The Break
by DimplesValntina
Summary: Danny and Lacey are 16, still in Green Grove, and are dealing with the aftermath of their relationship after Danny has rescued Jo from Charlie's clutches. This is a DACEY fan fic. It will contain Archie and possibly Karen and Jo. Lacey believes Danny has feelings for Jo and she is at a crossroads of continuing a life possibly without Danny. Lacey's main arc will be loaded soon.
1. Chapter 1A

_***Lovely Readers, for story of "The Break", Chapter 1 Prelude Part A and Part B were supposed to be the first chapters of the Dacey story, but as you will read below, the Lacey part in the Preludes was quite taxing to write in order to convey the depth of the betrayal she felt. Sooo, I wrote the Archie and Danny parts (Chapters 2 and 3) first while I completed the arc for the Lacey Preludes. Sorry for the out-of-order posting sequence but as you read below in Part A and then in Part B, the Preludes were the more challenging to write…Thank you for your patience and for your reviews. I hope you enjoy. DimplesValntina**_

**Chapter 1 Prelude Part A**

_Lacey's morning…._

When Lacey awoke that morning, she felt a little anxious. She didn't know why so she chose to dress in her most fashionable outfit, adorn herself with her favorite pieces of jewelry, have her mother fix her favorite breakfast (waffles), and blast her favorite songs in her car as she drove to school. She figured that if she set the right tone at the start of her day, then whatever was the source of this uneasiness, would go away. At least she was determined for that to be true…..

_11AM at Green Grove High _

Lacey is busy navigating the halls through the small remainder of students changing classes. The bell is about to ring but she is not worried. She has a hall pass which will allow her to skip Mr. Parkson's Computer class so that she can help the Green Grove Drama Department acquire the necessary set materials since the Macbeth production is running behind schedule. It helps that Mr. Parkson is dating Ms. DesLauriers of English/Literature since Ms. DesLauriers is also the Drama Department Head.

So, Lacey was allowed 'just this once' to skip Computer class to ensure the Drama Department would suffer no setbacks. Lacey smiles about that. She just has to find the school Maintenance manager to inquire about some materials Ms. DesLauriers has requested from his supplies. Unfortunately, Lacey's scattered thoughts didn't allow her to sense that someone was following her. She was unsuspecting as a hand grabs her arm and pulls her into the nearest supply closet. It was Danny Desai.

"Danny, what are you doing?" Lacey demands.

"Lacey, we need to talk." Danny looks determined to say whatever it is that is so important. He locks the closet door and stands in front of it to block Lacey's exit.

Lacey doesn't really have the time for this…especially since it is so hard to be in such close proximity to him…too close to look into his handsome face and those maple brown eyes of his. Lacey shakes her head to clear her thoughts. "Danny, I don't have time for whatever this is. I'm busy with errands for the Drama Department and we are behind schedule."

"You won't take my calls. You won't answer my voice messages or texts. You avoid me at school. You ignore my knocks on your window at night. You have Clara pretending you aren't at home when I come to your front door." Danny lists all the ways that Lacey has blocked his attempts at communication. "I don't think I have missed anything, right?" he sarcastically smirks. Lacey has foiled every step he has made to smooth things between the two of them.

"Nope, that sounds about right. So, why don't I continue that trend and leave…" as Lacey goes to step around Danny to try to unlock the closet door.

Danny blocks her physically as he shakes his head "Oh, na na na….we need to talk and this seems to be the only way I can get you to communicate with me." He is frustrated that Lacey has given both Jo and him the cold treatment the past couple of weeks since having to be involved with them during the drama concerning Charlie McBride and concerning his father's death. Lacey had been instrumental in bringing Charlie to justice and with clearing Jack's name concerning Vikram Desai's death. He thought those events would bring the trio (Jo/Lacey/him) back together. Lacey seemed determine to keep her distance.

Lacey sees that Danny is insistent on talking. She knows how stubborn he can be once he is determined to do something. Although a storage closet wasn't ideal to have a confrontation with him, she knew that this might be the only time to divulge all the heartache and disillusion she had been experiencing. She was tired of these feelings being bottled up inside her. She wanted to direct them at one of the sources of her pain. She reasoned that if she told Danny the full extent of her feelings, then maybe he would leave her alone for good.

"Danny, the reason I have been avoiding you and Jo is that right now, I am thinking of 'only Lacey'. I am concentrating on myself...rebuilding my life…preserving me… The best way to do that is to eliminate whatever or whoever stands in the way of that. I did the same thing 5 years ago and that is what I am doing now."

"What…what are you talking about?" Danny is confused and irritated that she has verbally confirmed what his heart had wanted to deny – Lacey wanted to move on in life without him.

"I remember how much it hurt when you went away to Juvie. I would be strong for Jo and myself during the day at school because you were no longer there to protect us. Jo was the shy one – she had been your little puppy dog except then her leader wasn't there for her anymore. So, I was strong for a while for the both of us – at least during the daytime. However, at night, it was a different story. At night, I didn't have to be strong and didn't have to pretend everything was okay. In the safety of my bedroom, I would cry myself to sleep – every night." Lacey's eyes became to water as she remembered.

"I had to be silent when the tears came because my parents were arguing a lot at that time and I didn't want my crying…my missing my murdering friend…to cause yet another argument. So, I cried in silence. When that wasn't enough, sometimes, after school, I would go to our fort and scream over and over again in anger and despair until I became exhausted."

Danny's heart ached as he heard Lacey's confession. He could picture her 11 year-old self, scared and alone in her pain. He again hated that his father's crime cost him years with Lacey and Jo. He wanted to touch Lacey and assure her that their current circumstances didn't have to echo the past, but he remained silent although his eyes reflected the pain.

Lacey continued: "For that whole first year that you were gone, that was my routine….until one day, I decided I didn't want to continue to hurt any more. So, I took all of our pictures and little treasures we collected from my room and stored them away in a box in the garage instead, where I wouldn't be tempted to look at them every day….wouldn't be tempted to mourn what I deemed 'lost.' At that time, I decided to stop writing to you at Juvie. I figured if I didn't communicate with you…if I didn't have physical keepsakes to preserve the memory of you, then I could start my life over. I could be 'okay' – maybe not 'happy' but definitely not 'sad' anymore. However, Jo didn't want to start that new life if we were leaving everything about 'you' behind. Yet, I couldn't stay in that state of sadness…of mourning with her, so I made the hard decision to move on with my life…without her."

Lacey took a deep breath, exhaled and continued as she relived the recollections of her past. "Our trio had ended. I was able to start that new life where people forgot my association with the 'child killer'. Instead, they noticed me, Lacey, and people started to like me, invite me to parties, wanted to become my friend. A few years ago, Archie came along…a boy very different from you…the first boy I had really wanted to get to know better and he liked me…he made me feel special."

Danny inwardly cringed a little at the thought of Archie being able to provide support for Lacey while he had been trying to survive in his own personal hell. He also was jealous that Archie had been the only other guy, besides himself, that Lacey had allowed herself to become close.

Lacey continued: "With this new start, I had put these 'walls' around myself to block out the old life and embrace this new one instead. And I LOVED it; I felt free. I felt in control of my life. Then, you came back to Green Grove and you wanted back 'in' my life. You wanted to get the trio back together. You came knocking at my walls that I had so carefully built. Why did you do that?"

"Lacey…"

Lacey doesn't want to listen…she is so full of anguish and must release all the feelings that have surfaced over the past few weeks. "Why did you do that, Danny? I didn't want to open myself up to you and Jo again. But you kept on and on…then, I began to remember, to feel what it was like to be in your 'sphere' again – your humor, your charm…Although, you had changed physically, you were that boy I once knew. I would look in those eyes and just get lost in them. You made me want to believe in the three of us again." Lacey smiled sadly.

"Next, this electric spark happened between the two of us…I tried to resist it, but my memories came back of my girlhood crush on an amazing little boy – except now he was almost a man…someone who seemed to reciprocate these feelings that I couldn't suppress. I couldn't will them away even though I tried for my sake and for Archie's. But you wouldn't stop until you knocked down my 'walls'. You made me trust in you. You made me question what I truly felt for Archie." Lacey's eye were slowly filling with frustrated tears but she made herself look directly into Danny's eyes as she made her confession.

"I fell in love with you, Danny. I let you into my heart, deeper than I had allowed for Archie. I let down my guard for you. I sacrificed my safety of my 'new life' for you. Do you know how difficult and how scary that was?"

"I know," Danny whispered. Danny is equally touched by her confession and floored by the realization of what loving him had cost Lacey.

"Do you? I trusted you with my heart. Does it even register with you how big it was to have faith in you..in us? How much that meant when I saw my own parents' love disappear. I trusted you to not hurt me like how my dad hurt my mom. But what did you do? You lied continuously about things – only to confess when you had no other choice. All you ever do is lie or omit things. Now, I believe everything you ever said about us is a lie, too. You lied just like my dad."

"Lacey, you know that is not true. I am not like your dad." Danny is hurt by her accusation regarding the emotional intimacy they once had.

"Aren't you? My dad lied about his feelings for years. You lied about Tara, which I can now understand since you were covering for your father. However, you also lied about having the necklace that Regina wore. You even lied about your dad's death. You and Jo kept Vikram's death a secret from me…from me, your girlfriend. Did you two enjoy keeping me in the dark? Did you feel any guilt about lying to me…lying straight to my face?"

"I'm sorry…" Danny's voiced cracked. "I wanted to protect you…"

Lacey was too incensed to listen to his excuses: "That's what hurts the most, Danny, your lying to me when I had come countless times to your aid – making Archie/Scott confess to Cole's poisoning to clear your name, helping Chief Masterson with evidence to free you from the suspicion of Regina's murder. I have been trying to move any obstacles that threatened to hurt you. I did all of this for you – for us to have a chance to start anew with our relationship with no one passing judgment on you. What makes me so angry is that NONE of that matters to you….NONE."

"It does, Lace. I can't begin to express how much gratitude I have for everything you have done for me…" Danny tries to come closer and look deep in Lacey's eyes to convince her of his sincerity.

"No, don't bother, okay? Your audio doesn't match your video." Lacey scoffs at his statement because his recent actions have proven otherwise.

"Lacey, I was thoroughly grateful to have you on my side whenever I was in trouble. But this time, I was trying to protect you from this new nightmare."

Lacey asked the question she had been wondering all this time: "Whose idea was it?"

"What?" Danny asked perplexed as to what direction this question was going.

"Whose idea was it to keep the secret of what really happened to Vikram?" Lacey was certain she knew the answer but wanted verbal confirmation.

"Well, Jo and I thought…" Danny began.

"Yeah, Jo….your actions were to protect you and Jo instead. Jo, who ratted on you to her mother when you were on the run after the murder weapon, that killed Regina, was found. Jo, who didn't even tell her dad I needed to speak with him about some evidence I had found about the shady female detective who was trying to frame you. Jo, who hated our "lies"when we kept our relationship from her, but now **willingly chose** to keep this much larger secret." Lacey became angry at the Jo, with whom she thought she had begun re-connecting recently at Homecoming and during class elections.

"Lacey, don't blame everything on Jo. This has been hard on her, too."

"Oh, I don't blame everything on Jo. You equally share the blame. You, who seemed so moody and upset the past few weeks for no apparent reason. You who would say in once instance that you wanted to be with me 'more than anything'…that you would 'love to go to Homecoming with me'…that I 'had to know that.' Yet when you seemed upset and sad, you would deny anything was wrong. I would ask; you would steadily deny. I would beg you to let me, your girlfriend, inside whatever was troubling you so that I could help you. 'Girlfriend'…yeah, what a joke. I was just someone to play with, right?"

"No, Lacey…" Danny denied as his eyes began to tear.

A tear, then another began to fall down Lacey's cheeks as she recounted the injustice of what had been their relationship. She took a shuddering, shallow breath. "No - let me finish – I need to finish this. I was just someone pretty to kiss, to make out. You shared your kisses, your hugs, your smiles, and your endless gazes but I didn't know you were still were holding on to a major part – you held back your heart." She ended that last sentence on a small sob, which she couldn't stop escaping.

Danny denied what she was saying. "Lacey, you do have my heart, believe me." He grabbed onto her arms to try to force her to pay attention to the words he was saying.

More tears flowed from Lacey as she sadly shook her head. "Nope, you held back your heart, your love…while I fully gave you mine." More tears flowed from Lacey as she sadly shook her head. "I sacrificed everything for you, Danny! What did you sacrifice for me?"

"Lacey, I'm sorry." Danny insisted: "I would never want to hurt you. It's the last thing I would ever want to happen." Danny tries to hold her.

Lacey struggles against his embrace. "Why, Danny? Why did you let us get back together again? It seemed like we were starting over…an honest start this time. When you lied before, you eventually confessed, but this time, I had to **make** you confess, Danny. Who keeps lying to someone when they know trust is so important? Who does that?" Lacey hits against his arms to free herself since she is exasperated and doesn't want his touch.

"Lace…" Danny struggled to say the words to try to convey the 'why' behind his recent actions.

"I will tell you who – someone who doesn't love that person." There, Lacey had finally said what convinced her of Danny's true feelings.

Danny was shocked at her statement. He stuttered as a tear escapes down his cheek: "I do…I do love you, Lacey. I do." He wants Lacey to believe him. He tries to reach for her again.

Lacey denies him: "Screw yourself! You only love your mother and yourself and it seems like you love Jo, too, since she knows all the big secrets in your life."

"It wasn't like that!" Danny exclaims.

Lacey was tired of everything. She just wanted this conversation to be over. "You know what? Save it. Screw you and screw Jo Masterson. I wish you two never came back into my life."

Danny was stricken with dread…he had heard similar words from her before and those words cut even more now. He shook his head. "You don't mean that." He hoped she didn't mean those words.

"Well, let my actions back my words. Regarding you and Jo, don't call me. Don't speak to me at school. Don't come to my house. I want nothing to do with either of you ever again. We aren't friends; we aren't enemies. You two are nothing to me. Let the past rot in the past."

"You can't mean that. I'm miserable without you." Danny implores to Lacey with his intense gaze as he let down his guard to state that last telling statement. He would be lost with no contact with the girl he loved. He feels the enormity of how miserable he handled recent events concerning Lacey.

"No. Just leave. Get out of my sight. Go after your little puppy. You can both be miserable together. I am starting my life again without you. Just go."

Danny is uncertain how to fix this damage that he has caused. He doesn't want this to be the last conversation he has with Lacey. He knows she is unwilling to listen to anything more he has to say today. His emotions are too scattered in order to say the 'right' words that will convince Lacey to be his again.

So, he resigns himself to partially honor her wishes. He takes a deep breath while wiping his hand over his forehead and back over the top of his head as he forms the words that may ease the situation. "Okay. I'll go but I won't let you build those walls again." He shakes his head. "I can't let you do that…I won't. I know you're hurt. I know that hurt was caused by me and it is up to me to fix it. I won't stop until I fix it."

Lacey states: "Don't bother."

Danny replies: "You're not the only one here with a broken heart."

Lacey says softly: "You don't have one to break."

Danny leans down slightly to look at Lacey as her eyes widens at his proximity. Danny sadly smirks: "No, you really don't believe that. You can't believe that. Your eyes clearly say those words are not true."

With that statement, Danny turns to leave. As the storage door clicks closed, Lacey allows her body to lean back against one of the walls to the storage closet. Lacey feels the exhaustion from this release of the emotions she had been feeling since their breakup.

She takes several breaths to calm down as she wipes all traces of her tears from her face. She has to compose herself to finish the errands for the Drama Department. She can't breakdown now. She has to control herself – just until she gets home. She internally coaches herself that when she gets home, she can cry or punch a pillow to release any frustrations.

Although she has stated everything that she wanted Danny to hear, she doesn't feel the satisfaction she thought she would feel. She had wanted to make him hurt as much as she hurt…feel the overwhelming pain that she felt. Consequently, she now realized that her wounds were deeper than she had thought and healing would take a much longer time. Her mind may be fixed on starting this new life without Danny but her heart hadn't gotten the message yet.

DimplesValntina _**Next continuations of "The Break" are Chapter 1 Prelude Part B, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3**_


	2. Chapter 1B

_***Lovely Readers, please read Chapter 1 Prelude Part A first, Prelude Part B (below) next, followed next by Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. The Preludes (Lacey's turmoil) were harder to write and took more time to compose. I apologize for the confusion of the order. Thank you for your reviews. Enjoy reading. DimplesValntina**_

**Chapter 1 Prelude Part B**

A few days later, Lacey is meeting Sarita at Johnnycakes. She orders a malt while she is waiting for her friend to arrive at their established meet-up. They are going for an action adventure movie. Lacey is grateful that Sarita and she have become friends again. She had missed having girlfriends to talk incessantly, hang out, and do non-murder related things…just be a 'normal' girl with an uncomplicated life.

Phoebe had been instrumental in the mending of fences between Sarita and Lacey. Phoebe had been production manager over a new drama with Green Grove High's Performing Arts Department. She had decided to extend an olive branch to Lacey by inviting her to help with the set production. Lacey has always been good with taking the lead of a school project and making the effort a success. So, it was a natural fit for Phoebe to invite Lacey to help with the production. When there had been a stomach virus outbreak with some students in the drama department, Phoebe seized that opportunity to include Lacey to help with saving the play. That worked to Phoebe's advantage since she always hated that Lacey had been ostracized from the popular-kids group since her involvement with Danny Desai. This way, Phoebe could become friendly with Lacey again.

Sarita had begrudging started interacting with Lacey since she was also involved with the drama department. Once Sarita started working with Lacey on the project, she soon realized that she had indeed missed Lacey, too. She knew Phoebe had used the virus outbreak as an obvious ruse to get Lacey back in the inner circle, but she wasn't altogether opposed to the idea. She still liked Lacey but she didn't like how Danny Desai drove the group apart.

Besides the fact that Danny was once a suspect for Regina's murder, Sarita didn't like what had happened to Lacey all due to her involvement with Danny. Lacey lost Archie, her popularity status, and her 'perfect' reputation due to Lacey's falling for Danny. What girl would support her friend who was blind with infatuation for a guy who could cause all of this within months of arriving? Sarita knew Regina was always the 'wild child' of their group and liked troubled hot guys but Lacey was different. So, that's why she disliked the changes that had fallen upon their group when 'Hurricane Danny' arrived.

Lacey smiles as she is thankful that Phoebe and Sarita have helped her over the past few weeks by having interactions during school hours and by keeping her busy with weekend plans. This way, she could not be lonely since she was deliberately avoiding contact with Danny and Jo and by default Rico as well. Since Whitney had left Green Grove to live with her mother, Lacey was glad that she had Phoebe and Sarita back in her life. Being with them usually meant Danny-free zones, so that was a welcomed relief.

As Lacey is immersed in thought, she doesn't notice that someone has entered Johnnycakes and noticed that she was sitting in a booth.

"Hey, Lacey," the hesitant voice began. Lacey raises a surprised gaze up to the eyes of Danny Desai. Her heart does an involuntary skip as it does every time whenever Danny appears. She takes a slight breath to compose herself as she responds: "Hello, Danny."

"Are you meeting someone?" Danny knows this is a redundant question since Lacey is sitting alone in the diner. He hopes it isn't a guy, although he knows he has no right to feel this way.

"Yes, I am." Lacey doesn't admit that it is Sarita that she is meeting. She doesn't want it to appear that she has no possible date for the evening especially since it appears that Danny may be soon dating Jo since Charlie is no longer in Green Grove after his psychotic episode. Lacey hates that she cares about something petty like not having a date, but she is still hurt that Danny and Jo could pursue a relationship when Lacey and Danny had been very intimately involved for most of a year. They had only broken up several weeks ago. What friends did that to another so-called friend? She never wanted to 'share' an ex-boyfriend with her female friends.

Danny is bothered that Lacey seems tense around him. He doesn't like the avoidance that Lacey has been giving both him and Jo since the events of his dad's death and the chaos of Charlie McBride. He wants to have Lacey in his life again. That is why he is constantly trying to remind her of the connection that she shares with Jo and him.

Danny sits down in her booth on the opposite side even though he sees that Lacey isn't pleased that he is asserting himself into her physical space.

"My guest is going to be here shortly, Danny." Lacey doesn't want to talk with Danny. She wants a carefree evening without any anxiety and heartache.

"I won't be long and besides, your guest isn't here yet. I promise to leave when that person arrives." Again, Danny hopes the person isn't a guy. "I haven't been able to forget something and I wanted to ask you about it. The other day in the storage room at school, you mentioned something about it 'being better to leave things in Green Grove'. What did you mean?"

"That's none of your concern" Lacey asserts.

"Avoiding the question like how you are avoiding things with us….instead of sorting things out with me and with Jo. You're angry and I get that, but if you just try to work with us…" Danny explains.

"Us? Jo, you and me? There is no 'us' anymore, Danny. In fact, there hasn't been an 'us' since we were kids." Lacey retorts. Danny begins to shake his head and opens his mouth to argue. Lacey interrupts: "No, you have this dream that the last 5 years hasn't happened….that the last few months (since your return) hasn't happened – that you and I were involved in a relationship that changed the dynamic of the 3-Musketeers friendship…we took a chance and risked our friendship for a relationship. You and I lov….liked each other and rushed into lust while Jo fell in love with you….all of that changed the dynamics of our group. Jo isn't the puppy dog following her 'kid leader' and I am not your co-captian in our kid trio anymore. Things can't be undone…can't be fixed…because we blurred those friendship lines and created a disaster."

"Lacey…"

Lacey is exasperated. "Don't you get it, Danny? We didn't think of the consequences of how our group would change if our romance didn't work out. We didn't count on Jo developing feelings for you. We didn't count on you developing feelings back for her…"

Danny tries to interrupt. "Lacey, that's not it…"

Lacey, undeterred continues. "We didn't count on your lies and omissions…"

"To protect you guys while I figure out what was happening to me…who was really responsible for the mess in my life…" Danny argues.

"You still LIED to those who were trying their most to help you. Danny, you can't be any good to anyone if you constantly lie or omit things to people. That makes them question their closeness to you…makes them question if anything regarding their time with you was even real or if they really know you at all…" Lacey frustratingly tries to convey her feelings. She throws up her hands in exasperation.

"You DO know me." Danny widens he eyes, places his hand on his heart as he leans across the table to try to capture Lacey's eyes. "You **do** know me. I am the same Danny who cares about the people who matter to him…who doesn't want to see them suffer. The times where I haven't been the most honest is to protect you in case any trouble arises. All of this mess I have been involved in…I didn't want any of that spilling back onto you and Jo. It is my mess and I didn't want you hurt because of it."

"Well, too late." Lacey retorts. "Besides, it doesn't matter anymore. Jo can deal with your messes from now on. I officially bow out of your little trio."

"You don't mean that." Danny hopes she is just angry and lashing out...at least he is choosing that approach because the opposite would break his heart.

"Yes, I do. The further distance I can have from you two, then the better for me. I'm glad I will be out of town soon for a vacation. Leaving this place for a while will be good." Lacey nods her head as she states this.

"Like I said, you are running away instead of working things out with Jo and me."

"My sister and I are going on a vacation with my dad for quality father-daughters' time. Since that is away from Green Grove, it is a welcome relief to be somewhere else. Besides, it will give me time to think about my dad's offer to be with him anyway." Lacey is eager to start that vacation.

"What offer to be with him?" Danny questions. He doesn't like the way that sounds.

Lacey realizes she has blurted out intentions she had planned to keep secret. She reluctantly admits: "Well, his job is relocating him to another state. He asked if I wanted to go with him and finish high school there instead of here. With all the drama that has been happening here in Green Grove, he thinks it will be a good time for a new start somewhere else."

Danny is rocked by her bombshell. "And you're considering it?" Danny forces himself to ask the question as his body is slowing filling with dread.

"Yeah, it sounds like a good idea." Lacey nods.

"Well, it sounds like you're being a coward and running away," Danny accuses Lacey.

"Good that I don't care what you think. For now, I'm going to spend a break away from Green Grove. If I come back, then I don't want you or Jo to ever cross my path. If I don't come back to Green Grove, good riddance to this town," she states vehemently.

"So, you are going to use this vacation to decide and then just not come back – if you decide to live with your dad after all? Don't you think that is all-of-a-sudden? Shouldn't you take more time to consider before you just 'up and relocate'?" Danny didn't want to think that he had only a few weeks to convince Lacey of a possible reconciliation. He thought he had more time and he could slowly mend his relationship with Lacey and their mutual friendship with Jo. Now, he had a rush against an impending deadline that he didn't even know existed.

Lacey dismisses, "Don't worry about it. My decision doesn't affect you and Jo." She doesn't need to defend herself to him when he has been showing insensitivity towards the dissolution of their relationship, their friendship.

Danny is insistent: "Where would you go? Where is your dad thinking about moving?"

Lacey, too incensed by Danny's barrage of questions so she repeats, "Don't worry about it."

Danny tries reasoning with Lacey. It works usually when he wants to sway a person's stance. "Lacey, you can't leave like this." He purses his lips in frustration and shakes his head. "We can work everything out – you, me, and Jo." Lacey begins to interrupt. Danny stops her with a hand raised in her direction. "We can make everything work. We…we just have to sit and talk things out. Things got so messed up, but we can make things right again. I know it."

Lacey isn't in the mood to be hear Danny's assurances. "The only thing 'right' that you can do is to leave me alone and stop trying to fix things with a friendship that is long gone."

Danny is about to deny Lacey's statement but Sarita arrives. She notices that Lacey seems upset and rushes to her friend's side. "Lace, is something wrong? Is 'Socio' bothering you?"

"I have a name, Sarita…use it sometime." Danny isn't in the mood for the nickname that has been haunting him since his return. Most of the time, he is able to embrace the nickname to his advantage and turn any situation to his advantage. Often the nickname taunter's intentions fall flat once Danny turns the tables to make them look idiotic.

"Okay, **Daniel**, stop bothering my friend."

"Friend, yeah right…" Danny frowns, looks off briefly in the distance, cups his chin with one hand, and then glances in pretend confusion at Sarita while he drops his hand from his face. "So, **friend**, where have you been all these months when Lacey was the social outcast at school? It's funny how you are now buddies with Lacey but when there was trouble for her, you were nowhere in sight." Danny is ticked that Lacey is allowing Sarita to interfere with their conversation. He isn't pleased that Sarita seems to be in Lacey's inner circle again. However, he can understand how Lacey may be feeling lonely and allowed Sarita into her life again since Lacey has only had Whitney's friendship recently. He hates again how Jo, Lacey, and he aren't as close as they once were, which is why he is determined to correct their distance from each other. Therefore, he doesn't want Sarita, while well-meaning, to be spreading poison about him to Lacey, even though he knows Sarita is only trying to care for Lacey, who is hurting.

Lacey has had enough drama for one evening. "Look, let's not make a scene here. Danny, we are leaving. Sarita, let's go."

"Lacey…" Danny begins frustrated that he hasn't finished talking with Lacey.

" Yes, 'bye, **Daniel**," Sarita smirks as grabs Lacey's arm. "Come on, Lacey. We don't want to be late."

Lacey and Danny cast glances at each other as she leaves with Sarita while Danny is left sitting alone in the booth. As the girls walk out of the diner and to Sarita's car in silence, Sarita senses that Lacey is very rattled from her interaction with Danny even though Lacey appears outwardly to be composed. As Sarita drives them to the movie theater, she allows Lacey to rattle small talk about the actor and the director of the movie they are going to watch. Sarita knows that this is Lacey trying to pretend that she is okay. Sarita knows that Lacey is trying to get her life back together…back to a life before 'Hurricane Danny'.

Sarita isn't exactly as unfeeling towards the situation as she portrays. She has always noticed the doe-eyed glances between Lacey and Danny since Danny returned from Juvie. However, she knew that Danny would be trouble for Lacey. He served time for murder, he is too charismatic for his own good, and far too handsome. She knew the bad-boy mystique was appealing, which Danny had in spades, but the Lacey she knew was much too good to waste her reputation on this guy who seemed to have a penchant for trouble. There had been 3 murders in this town with Danny's direct or indirect involvement. 'Normal' guys didn't have all of this drama. Lacey needed a 'normal' guy with no drama surrounding him. She glanced at her friend, who was still animatedly spewing facts about the movie.

Sarita herself had experienced pain from loving a bad-boy herself so she wanted to spare any of her friends that heartache. Sarita decided that she would try to be more supportive for Lacey. She didn't want Lacey to be hurt by any guy, which meant she would keep her eye watchful on that troubling Danny Desai.

_**Several Twisted friends have made an appearance…there will be a few more in upcoming chapters…I hope you are enjoying "The Break". I will be posting additional chapters early April as well as adding the starts to 4 more Dacey fan fics. I have several outlines composed but the writing takes much longer than I had planned. Thank you for reading! DimplesValntina**_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Lacey was surprised to see Archie in front of her. She wasn't aware that he had been back in town. Archie's parents still lived in the city but she had heard that he had gotten into a private school some hours away. She wasn't a part of the popular clique at school anymore so she didn't know where Archie and Scott landed after their expulsion from Green Grove High.

Although she was very disappointed that Archie took his revenge against Danny by harming Cole, she could understand now how it felt to be helpless when it seemed that your loved one belongs to someone else. She didn't condone what he did but she knew that once Archie had a heart and could be a good person. She had been angry when he would pick fights with Danny or make sarcastic remarks about Jo or Danny. She may have been part of the popular crowd, but she didn't abuse her popularity by taking cheap verbal shots at the un-popular kids.

However, regardless of Archie's faults, she had enjoyed being the center of his world (besides soccer). When Archie gave his all to someone, he could make you feel special and worshiped. She hated when the tape was leaked and it caused him pain. She had broken things off with Archie when kissing Danny several times had awakened feelings she thought she had long buried. She had hated abandoning Archie, but she couldn't keep up the pretense of loving him when someone else had stolen her heart and invaded her thoughts.

"Hi, Arch" Lacey huskily replied as she slowly returned his smile. "Long time, no see. How are you?"

Archie smiled a little wider. "I'm fine. I am back in Green Grove for a visit with my parents. My private school gave us some days for teacher development so I decided to come back into town." Archie is glad to see Lacey. She looks as beautiful as ever yet there is a slight sadness to her demeanor regardless of the dimpled smile she displays. She sounds the same though…his strong Lacey, even though she was no longer "his".

Lacey was glad to find out that at least he was in school somewhere and he looked and sounded like the Archie she used to know. He seemed to have grown a few inches taller but he was still the same and it was nice to pretend that they were still close as they chatted here on the sidewalk. Lacey missed him – the easy-going Archie. She missed friendships not tied to Danny and Jo. "I am sure your friends and your parents are glad to see you."

"My mom is glad to have me home. My dad…well, he wants to make sure I stay out of trouble. He has all these meet-and-greets with image recruiters to try to rehab my chances for a soccer scholarship." Archie doesn't want to keep up the small talk but realizes that he can't launch into a series of questions asking her about her relationship status with Danny Desai – as much as he would like.

"You are an excellent soccer player and you kept your grades high. I am sure with the right image consultant, you will have your choice of scouts wanting you." Lacey was sure that Archie would get back his status in life as long as he didn't let jealousy interfere with that.

Archie basks in the compliment Lacey gave to him. Lacey was always his number one supporter when they were together. "Look, I wanted to talk to you a while ago to apologize for all of the mess that I caused for Danny and Cole and you…I was in a terrible 'head space' and I was so consumed with eliminating Danny from our lives." Archie paused. He wasn't sure if Lacey would believe his next words.

"Lacey," he slowly began, "I'm sorry for everything. I tried apologizing to Cole, and to his credit, he listened to what I had to say; however, he said he would forgive me only if I apologized to Danny as well."

"Did you apologize?" Lacey was glad that he tried to rectify things with Cole, but Archie also needed to settle things with Danny, too.

"Yeah, I saw him at Johnny Cakes yesterday and I said my apology."

"Did he accept it?" Lacey wanted to know.

Archie earnestly replied "I don't know. He said 'okay' but he seemed pre-occupied. He said he never meant to cause rift with the soccer team but that he was trying to just fit in and Scott and I wouldn't let that happen." Archie agreed "He was right. I was just hellbent that he was trying to steal my spotlight on the team and also trying to steal my girl. I was wrong about the team thing but right about the girl thing."

"Archie, look, Danny and I had unresolved feelings when he left for Juvie and everything came flooding to the surface when he got back. I broke things off with you when it looked like those feelings for Danny would not disappear. I am sorry for hurting you." Lacey hoped he would understand.

"Look, we hurt each other so let's start anew." Archie wanted to make sure she knew that he harbored no bad feelings towards her. He was still a little sore with Danny but not infuriatingly jealous like he was before.

Lacey smiled. "I would like that, too." She didn't want a relationship with anyone but she could use a friend…someone who knew her and who wasn't full of drama and complications. She wanted something easier. Besides she and Archie had started off as friends before they dated and had parted on somewhat amicable terms until the tape with Danny and her leaked.

Archie wants to ask her about her relationship status so he decides to ease the conversation in that direction. "I am still in touch with a few buddies of our old clique. I had dinner with them the other day. They said they had not talked directly with you in a while. They did mention that you and Danny had broken up sometime after his dad died and he became a millionaire."

Lacey nodded. "Yeah, after we broke up and after news broke that I had been with Danny, I lost all of my 'popular' friends. I had just Danny and Jo. I have cut ties with them so I had one friend after that. It was nice to have her around when I was trying to pick up the pieces of my life. Now, it seems that Phoebe and Sarita are becoming closer to me again. I am grateful for that."

Archie nodded his agreement. "I wish I had been here for you, too. I still care what happens to you, Lacey."

Lacey was touched. "Thank you, Arch. That means a lot."

Archie stepped closer to her and touched her elbow as he looked into her eyes. "I mean it. I know you may not be in the right place to hear this, but I never stopped caring about you. You still mean the world to me. If there was some rewind button to push so that you and I could still be together, I would push it. I have never cared for another girl the way I felt for you…still feel for you." There, he had said it.

"Look, Archie…" Lacey began,..

Archie interrupted "I know you just got out of a relationship with Danny. I don't know what happened but I can tell from your eyes that he hurt you. I'm not going to ask you for anything more than friendship at this time. I can wait until you feel that you are ready for more. Meanwhile, I would love to be your friend."

"Archie, I may never be ready to be 'more'." Lacey was too fragile right now to consider the rationality of a relationship with one ex when she was still in mourning for the other ex. "Right now, I am just 'me, myself, and I'. No boyfriend, no dating. However, if you are honest about the friendship offer, well, I could use one of those."

Archie was okay with friendship. It was a start and he meant what he said – whatever terms she was able to give him, he would be fine with that….even if she didn't give him her heart again…although, a small part of him knew he would rather have her back as a girlfriend.

"Is it okay for this friend to give you a hug?" Archie asked. His heart ached at her sad eyes and he wanted to comfort her.

"Sure. I could use a hug." Lacey accepted his bear hug. She had missed the nice side of the Archie she once knew.

One other person was witnessing this display of affection on the sidewalk. Danny had come from the dry cleaners where his mother had sent him. He was about to get into his car when he noticed Lacey talking to someone in front of the boutique a few yards up the street. He noticed that it was Archie. He was slightly shaken by their closeness while talking and then the hug. He didn't want her going back to Archie.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Lacey runs a few more errands before she came home. She feels better after seeing Archie and going for a massage afterwards at a spa. She realized that her sadness had not quite gone away. It may take a while for that to happen.

She lets herself in the house. It was empty because her mother has taken Clara to gymnastic practice at school. So, Lacey has some time to herself before they got home. She has a slight headache earlier which had not gone way even with the massage. She takes some pain meds and walks up the stairs to her bedroom.

She is not prepared to see Danny Desai sitting on the end of her bed awaiting her return.

"Hi, Lace." Danny begins with a slight smile.

Lacey is determined to harden her heart. "What do you want Danny? I thought we had said everything a few days ago."

"I saw you talking to Archie earlier. He apologized to me the other day." Danny nodded as he smoothed the top of his hair which he had tied back in a hairtie. He always does this when he is unsure about something. He proceeds carefully on what he wants to ask.

"Yeah, he told me….Danny…" Lacey starts.

Danny's face looks confused. "Did you tell him to apologize to me?"

"No, he apologized on his own. He told me he had apologized to both you and Cole recently."

"Oh." Danny is surprised. He stands from the bed and advances closer to Lacey. Lacey wants to back up away from Danny but she refuses to show any weakness. She stands in the same place as Danny approaches closer.

"Well, I didn't expect that. I thought you had made him apologize. Interesting." He looks at Lacey intently. "Did Archie ask you to take him back?"

"That's none of your business." Lacey counters.

"He did, didn't he? I figured he did. That's what the hug was for, wasn't it?"

"Not that it matters to you, but the hug was for friendship."

"Oh, is that what they call it these days?" Danny says sarcastically.

"End of conversation, Danny. You can leave." Lacey is tired and wants to end the conversation.

"Sorry….Archie is not my best subject…but he did ask, didn't he?"

For a moment, Lacey does not answer. "That's between Archie and me…" Lacey begins.

Danny continues while nodding: "He asked you to take him back. I could tell that he did." He smiled slightly as he spread his arms to illustrate his point: "That's what I would do…what I'm **trying** to do – get the girl back that I was so stupid to let go. I should have fought for us. I know that now."

"It's too late, Danny." Lacey states. "I'm tired. I don't want to talk about things. I have said all I wanted to say four days ago."

Danny agrees: "Good, because I want you to listen."

"Danny…"

"You want me to leave? Then just listen for a moment. Please just hear me out, okay?" Danny again smoothes his hair and takes a deep breath while staring at the ceiling. Then, he turns his intense gaze on Lacey. "You want honesty…here's honesty – straight with no chaser – as they say. Please just listen for a little bit to what I have to say." Danny gestures for Lacey to sit down on the bed.

"I'll stand. I give you 10 minutes and that's it." Lacey doesn't know if she can stand being so close to him for more than that amount of time.

Danny looks at the girl he wants as he begins to speak the words he should have said to her long before now. "When I was sent to Juvie, I was thrown into a jungle where I had to learn to survive. I had no choice but to learn how to play the mind games, learn to strategize, learn how to read people, manipulate them, and convince them to be on my side. That place can change a person. What kept me halfway sane was my memories of what I left at home – you and Jo."

Lacey winced a little at his choice of words.

Danny continued: "A guard took me under his wing and then Charlie came. I had people now in my corner so I thought. When I got released, the last thing I wanted to do was come back here to Green Grove. Then, I thought that if I could at least I could re-connect with you and Jo, things could go back to how they used to be 'before'. I could work on my relationship with my mom and with you two. "

"Lacey, when I saw you two at school that first day, I couldn't believe how much older both of you looked. Then, I thought 'I must look old, too'. " Danny smirked at Lacey. She felt her face responding in a small smirk before she trained her face back to neutral.

Danny was undeterred. "That day at school, I noticed how beautiful you had become, Lacey. I was crushed that you and Jo didn't seem happy to see me. I was also crushed that you had a guy. At first, I was jealous because he was the new confidant in your life. Then, I was jealous because he was your **boyfriend**, and I wanted you as mine," Danny admitted.

"So, like Juvie, I strategized, smoozed, manipulated, and even convinced Jo to help get you back to talking to us. The closer I got to making you admit you had feelings like I did, the greedier I got. I had to get you to leave him – you deserved better than him. I wanted to be that better guy for you."

"When you left Archie, I was fine about keeping our relationship a secret. I enjoyed my private times with you. Then, everything imploded...the mess with the necklace happened and the tape of us came out as well as our fallout when our friendship with Jo suffered."

Again, the continued Jo references sting a little at Lacey. "Look, Danny, your time is up. It's late…" Lacey insists.

"Wait," Danny asserts as he pulls some things from his jacket and starts handing them to her one by one as he explains. "This is the picture that Charlie stole from me in Juvie. Notice the worn edges. Your side shows more wear. Here are the letters you wrote to me when I was first in Juvie – until one day they stopped. I missed getting those letters. Here's my journal I kept. Read it when I leave. Notice how many times your name is in it. Look at all the things I say about you."

Lastly, he hands her the box which contained that infamous bracelet from the night they had the breakup. He gently forces her to hold it as he gazes into her eyes. "That bracelet….I saw it and I remembered you wear bracelets so I wanted the most expensive I could find – not to bribe you but because I wanted you to have the best of anything I could afford to give you. That night, I had planned to 'wine and dine' you – spoil you with the best meal you've ever had at a restaurant with just the two of us. I even rehearsed how I would present the bracelet – at my favorite scenic spot by the water where you can see the bridge lit at night. "

Danny reminisced: "You were **sooo** beautiful…the most beautiful I have ever seen…" He smiled. "I wanted everything to be special since I ruined Homecoming night. I had even planned to end our special night with the two of us underneath the stars making love – my beautiful girl, a romantic spot – perfect." His smile faltered.

"When you called me out on my b.s., I got scared. I saw everything I had hoped for slipping away. Something was happening again to me out of my control but this time I was the one causing the damage. I was the one destroying my life. I kept trying to defend myself. A lot of stuff got said that night. Then, you accused me of using you as substitute – that 'Jo was always the one'. That caught me by surprise. I was so messed up. I wasn't thinking that night. I was guilt-ridden and sleep-deprived.

"I was so angry – angry that I couldn't fix things…angry that money couldn't buy me happiness or fix things…andgry that you saw through me…angry at the disappointment in your eyes…the disgust on your face…"

"Danny…" Lacey tries to interrupt…

"But that is over. I have been seeing a physchologist recommended by my doctor at Juvie. It helps to talk through some of the stuff that has been happening to me during Juvie and during my time back at home. I am learning that I don't have to be my father. I know that now. I made peace with the role I played in his death. I'm even working with the police to find out who scared my father into running."

Danny continued: "Jo and I sorted through that mess when I thought I had confused feelings for her." Lacey tenses. Danny pressed on as he moved a little closer: "We both agreed it was 'friendship love' – **not** 'romantic love'. I have only felt romantic love for one person. One might think she is a 'snow queen' but that is a disguise because once you know her, you discover she is just as beautiful inside as she is outside. She has the most amazing smile with the most perfect dimples."

Lacey's eyes widen as she gazes in his eyes and listens intently. "She's sexy, smart. She's your biggest supporter. When she is in your corner, most of your battles are already won. And I want her to be in my corner again, in my life. I **love **her, love everything about her: her stubbornness, her strength…everything. I would do practically anything to get her back, earn her forgiveness."

Danny places his hands on either side of her face as he wills her to believe his words: "If you want time, I can wait, but please don't say 'no'."

Lacey tries to speak. Danny plows ahead: "Archie asked for a chance at friendship. I ask for a chance at friendship, too. If you decide that this is all you can give to me, then I will just have to make peace with that. But please don't fully shut me out like you have been. I can't **not** have you in my life. I'm miserable without you. Don't make me live without you again. Juvie took you away from me before. Please don't let my stupidity take you away from me now. Please, Lacey….please…" Danny's voice cracks and his eyes begin to water.

Lacey looks away from the intensity of his eyes for a moment. "Danny…" She couldn't say anything more. The lump in her throat refused to clear. She was afraid she would start crying again as her eyes began to water. She closed them for a moment to get centered again. She tried again: "Look, Danny, things are just too…"

Danny interrupted. He wanted to get all his thoughts out since he didn't know how long Lacey would listen to him. Whenever he needed to talk before, Lacey would jumped to conclusions or leap to voice her opinions whenever she thought she needed to make a point.

Danny, who normally would hold his feelings close to the vest as he learned in Juvie, had learned to become tight-lipped on what information you held until you discovered what the other person knew or felt. He knew he needed to put everything "on the table" – to be honest with everything to Lacey. He tried to express all he needed to address with Lacey: "I know…I laid a lot on you but you have to know where my mind and heart are. Life has gotten so twisted, so crazy, but I want you to know how I **truly** feel. I love you, Lace…always will…"

"Danny…" Lacey begins.

Danny touches her arm tenderly, which stills her into silence. His touch always affects her. "Shhh…" He places his thumb gently on her lips to keep her quiet. However, when he touches her, he is as affected by Lacey as she is by him. "Let's not ruin the moment. Let me hold you just for a minute." Danny takes a deep breath, fully exhaling as he felt the weight being lifted from his shoulders. He had held these feelings inside for so long, too scared to say the words aloud when most of his plans have gone awry. He didn't want to voice his innermost desires when he hasn't had many desires to materialize for him. He had laid his soul bare tonight. He couldn't voice anything more. He held Lacey in his arms for several minutes…for as long as Lacey would allow him. He always loves hugging Lacey close. It always settles whatever anxiety he feels. He holds Lacey several minutes but it feels like more to him. He reluctantly pulls away from Lacey as he explains "It's late. I better let you get some sleep. Besides, my mother has become super-protective lately with all the craziness that has happened the past couple of months." He ran both hands down Lacey's arms. He feels her take a deep sigh as she gazes down. Danny places his hand softly under Lacey's chin to make her raise her gaze to him. As she raises sad eyes, still bright with unshed tears, to lock with Danny's melancholic expression, Danny's heart seems to skip as he realizes how close he has become to being a closed chapter of Lacey's life. His mind and heart solidify to make sure that doesn't happen. He needs Lacey. She needs him. For now, he must be content to give her time to digest what he has said. Her anger and sadness both echo the same thing: her heart still was connected to him somewhat.

Danny is unable to stop himself as he gingerly kisses Lacey's forehead, places a signature nose kiss, and is compelled to kiss those plush lips if only for the briefest of a sweet kiss. Lacey returns his kiss letting it linger between them before they mutually pull away to rest their foreheads against each other…each not really wanting to end this physical connection but there is a vast amount of issues that need to be settled but wouldn't this particular night.

Danny gives a small side smile – resigned that at least he presented Lacey with total honesty and he hopes that will be enough to sway her towards believing in him again. He gives a nod as he says "Goodnight" and slowly turns to leave to out Lacey's window.

After Danny's exit, Lacey is more confused than ever. Does she take a chance with Danny with all the complications involved with him? Does she go with the "safety" of Archie for a second time? After all, he treated her like a queen before Danny arrived. Should she instead remain single and concentrate on "Lacey" for a while and slow re-establish herself into what she wants to be without the identity of "someone's girlfriend"?

She sighed as she changed into pajamas as she fell into bed to try to get some sleep. Her headache from earlier in the evening was now progressively worse. She hoped that the pain meds would eventually work. She reasoned that her scattered thoughts would gel into clarity when the morning came…or at least she hoped.

When did 16 become this hard and why did it feel like this single decision would affect the rest of her life? Maybe she needed more than one night to think things through. Maybe space away from Green Grove would provide her the answers she sought. Too many "maybes" for one night.

DimplesValntina


	5. Chapter 5

_***Lovely Readers, I am humbled by your very kinds words in the reviews. I thank you for the wonderful words of encouragement. Our story continues with Lacey trying to determine where her next path should take her: friendship or another relationship. If friendship, can she be that to both of her exes? If relationship, which ex presents the best outcome based on what she wants from a relationship? Also, how does each path affect her individual journey of rediscovering herself? DimplesValntina**_

The alarm shrills and Lacey hurries to silence the noise. Thankfully, she had gone into a deep slumber after Danny had left. She realizes that the past few days have been extremely tiring from all of her emotional-rollercoaster conversations with Danny. Conversing with Archie, while mostly enjoyable, had also centered around her relationship status and Danny. So, although she had gained her first full-night's sleep in weeks and her headache had finally gone, she had awakened still without clarity on her situation. She did not know what type of connection she wanted with Archie or Dannie. The only certainty that she knew was that any future connections with anyone would not be at the cost of herself. She wouldn't just be 'so-and-so's girlfriend' nor would she has such blind allegiance to a 'friend' at the expense of overlooking her own needs. Anyone in her life would have to be not only 'good **to** her, but good **for **her' as well. This was non-negotiable.

With that in mind, she thinks of each guy's pros and cons. Each guy was very different - not just in looks, but in personalities and even in current life circumstances. Moreover, they varied in how they handled situations and how they treated her. Regardless of the type of connection she would have with each guy, how would her affiliation affect how the guys themselves treated each other? Right now, Archie and Danny had reached a tenuous truce once Archie apologized, but Lacey knew that truce was made better because Archie was not physically attending the same school as Danny nor was Archie in Green Grove a lot since his private school was not in that city. However, both guys had families in Green Grove so surely they would encounter one another especially if both were involved in Lacey's life in some capacity. Lacey didn't want to be in the middle of a tug-of-war similar to before…she didn't want to be someone's prize to win. Her value was worth more than becoming someone's trophy. Would friendship with either guy inevitably lead to a competition for her heart?

On one hand, she could picture herself allowing Archie into her life as a friend and perhaps testing the waters for a relationship again if things progressed towards that direction. He was willing to accept any interaction on Lacey's terms. She would have the majority control in how their dealings with each other…she 'call the shots' in any direction that best suited her. It would be nice to be 'proactive'rather than reactive to outside tumultuous circumstances. She could insist on what would be best for her and know that Archie would do all that he could to honor whatever she desired.

With Archie, she wouldn't have to doubt his loyalty to her; Lacey would always be his top priority. After all, when she was Archie's girlfriend, she was the only girl he cared for…the only girl he would give his protection, his love, and his singular focus. Isn't that how it should be with one's girlfriend? Although other's judgment of Archie had been damaged by his compliance in poisoning Cole, he still presented less complications than Danny. He had been unwavering in his love for Lacey and he had made her feel the most important in his life.

Archie could be summed by others as just a typical high-school jock, but Lacey knew he worked very hard for his athletic accomplishments and he always offered encouragement to his teammates. While she didn't like his view on some of the nerds in school, he would listen to her when she gently chastised him on his behavior. He was handsome and fun to be around; he loved making her laugh so he could bestow a kiss upon one of her dimples.

Archie was mostly predictable, which actually was a good trait. The friend or girlfriend in his life could hold certain expectations of him: a steady temperament and constant appreciation. Archie wasn't as exciting as Danny but he was 'safer'. Conversely, Lacey knew that her love for Archie had not been as deep or as all-consuming as her love for Danny had been. Thus, she had allowed Danny far more intimacies than she had allowed Archie. Her lust for Danny had made her want to break any standards she had set previously for Archie.

Now, she thought about the pros and cons for Danny. Lacey took a very deep sigh. Danny should be the very guy a girl like Lacey should avoid. Danny was the most opposite of Archie (which probably was why he was able to crack Lacey's walls when Archie became her boyfriend). By first impressions, Danny could be described as a 'bad boy.'

The 'bad boy' mystique could be because of his warm brown complexion and shiny long wavy hair. The hair was one of the first things that captured Lacey's attention in the differences between the 11 year-old Danny that left Green Grove and the 16 year-old version that replaced his former image. That luscious hair made a girl want to run her hands through it and curl the tendrils around her fingers.

He was very, very goodlooking (and he knew it). He was far too charming, very confident (borderline cocky), and often very intense in emotions and in his gazes. Lacey's eyes are always caught by his and she becomes mesmerized by the light reflected in their melted caramel depths. She temporarily forgets she is angry or hurt by him when he captures her view with those eyes. So, she tries not to stare at them or else look only for a very limited time. She often darts her eyes to other objects but they unfailingly position back to his gaze. Yet, Danny seems to suffer the same affliction when it comes to staring back at her. In fact, that was one of Archie's first clues that Danny had feelings for Lacey when Archie would intercept the looks of wanting that Danny always threw Lacey's way.

Danny also had a juvenile history, a checkered reputation with Green Grove's residents, and uncanny bad luck regarding murders and other recent strange occurrences in the town. Some people only saw the bad boy image, but Lacey had witnessed other sides to Danny that could be sweet, funny, romantic, and loyal. Unfortunately, his loyalty to some people could also be his 'Achilles heel' especially when Danny confessed to Tara's murder when his dad was the true killer instead.

Then, there was the lying. Danny could lie really well. Maybe he inherited that eerie ability to lie or omit the truth so well because Vikram Desai, his dad, was a master of that trait. In addition, Danny's mother also seemed to be good at lying – at least when it came to protecting her son. Maybe Juvie also shaped Danny's ability to maneuver the truth when he needed. At any rate, those cons were pretty huge in Lacey's mind.

As she mentally ticks the votes of pros versus cons for each candidate, she eventually concludes that she should only focus on friendship with either guy. There are too many cons that need some fix or discussion before she could even entertain a romantic relationship. Besides, she really needs to be free of romantic entanglements and discover herself again – without the fixture of a boyfriend. It has been a few years since she has been completely single for an extended amount of time.

She feels good about her decision. She will let each guy know and keep a careful eye on how each guy values a friendship with her. If a friendship with either guy starts negatively impacting her on a routine basis, then she will be quicker about ending that friendship. She doesn't want her feelings and time invested in someone who is not worthy of that 'friend' title. She is still healing from friendship betrayals but she doesn't want to harden her heart if someone truly deserves a second chance.

As she showers and dresses for the day, she had not expected to face one of those friends as she drove into town. Of course, she should have **known** that in Green Grove, when one doesn't want to encounter someone, then that usually is the time you literally trip over them.

Lacey needs to find a dress for an upcoming formal at Green Grove. She really wants a dress from another boutique upstate or else from NYC itself so that she has something unique that no other girl in Green Grove will have. Lacey has a reputation of being the best fashionista at Green Grove High so it is expected that she will be one of the best dressed at the formal. Lacey feels that a little window shopping will help clear her mind of recent events…even if she knows she won't buy formal wear today…it is fun to 'window-shop'.

Lacey enters Green Grove's most prestigious designer boutique which is known for having the most unusual finds in clothing, shoes, and accessories from new designers, runway fashions from NYC and Italy, and interesting vintage pieces. The huge store caters to both men and women and is well-respected for their tailoring and personal styling.

She browses around the store and finds a few items to try. She finds a beautiful dress made of peach chiffon over a silk with delicate, tiny floral petals sewn scatteringly over the whole dress. While it was not something to wear to a formal school dance, it was perfect to wear to her mother's charity functions. She takes her hair out of her ponytail hair tie and arranges it in loosely all on one side of her head with the long layers cascading down one shoulder. She doesn't have the proper shoes on to be able to determine how it feels to walk in the dress. She carefully gathers one side of the dress in her hand so that the garment doesn't drag on the floor as she leaves the dressing room to ask the stylist on the floor for some heels to try with the dress. The Men's dressing room is on the opposite side of the store from the Women's dressing room.

As she is enters the main floor room, she sees Danny and Karen, his mother. Karen is describing the fit she wants the tailor to fix for the suit Danny has on. It is a beautiful dark cobalt blue…not navy, not midnight blue, but a dark cobalt. He is wearing a crisp white shirt on with a white tie with blue polka dots. His belt was bright oiled British tan as well as the shoes. His hair is down past his shoulders….it had gotten even longer over since Homecoming night. He looks a mix of Johnny Depp and Colin Ferrell. Lacey was struck with awe: He is beautiful really. Not exactly words a girl would use to describe a guy, but those were the words which first appeared in her mind.

Danny looks uncomfortable with all the attention that is being paid to him but he seems willing to endure the torture to please him mother. As he sighs, he glances up…right into Lacey's gaze. He smiles and his mouth seems to move the words "Hey Lacey."

Karen looks up at Danny and turns to the direction that her son's gaze is still fixed. She spots Lacey and offers a big smile to her. "Hi Lacey" is her greeting which could be heard across the boutique.

Lacey decides to smile and wave back. She doesn't want his mother to feel the tension that has recently been between Lacey and Danny. She finds the stylist and asks for help with some heels for the dress. The stylist finds Lacey a muted peach metallic pair that goes well with the dress and has the necessary height that will prevent the dress from dragging on the ground. The stylist insists that Lacey walk a few minutes in the heels to see how the dress moves.

Lacey was so involved with the interactions of the stylist, that she had not noticed Danny approaching her until she was gazing at herself in the three-way mirror on the main floor to inspect how the dress/shoes combo looked on her in all directions.

"You look really good…no, you look amazing, Lacey." Danny observes as his gaze locked in the mirror with Lacey's gaze. Their image in the mirror reflects a stunning portrait of the couple; the peach dress looks incredible against the cobalt blue; the colors of the garments complements their skin tones wonderfully.

"You look amazing yourself." Lacey admits.

"I'm getting a new suit for a family portrait with my mom. He wants some big monstrosity of us hanging in the living room. I really don't want a portrait, but she hasn't had one with me in 5 years so I wanted to please her." Danny is pleased that he has run into Lacey. This has made the past 2 hours of shopping with his mother worth the hassle of trying on multiple suits.

Lacey compliments him. "I bet she is very thankful that you are doing that. It was very nice for you to do that." Silence occurs for a moment as their gazes continue to lock in the mirror.

Danny suggests: "Now would be the time where you also state why you are trying on something in the store."

Lacey offers a small smile. "I am just window shopping and I spotted a dress I may buy for my mother's upcoming event."

"You should definitely buy the dress….or you could let me buy you the dress." Danny really wants Lacey to have that dress. It is breathtaking on her.

Lacey bristles slightly. "You don't have to buy me things, Danny." It almost seems like he is wanting to flash his newly inherited wealth around again.

"No, Lacey. I am not trying to impress you with the amount of money I have. I really want you to have this dress because it looks so beautiful on you." Danny seems sincere with those words as he bends his head closer to hers to gaze deeper at Lacey in the mirrored reflection. "Please let me buy you the dress."

"Yes, we would love to buy you that dress, Lacey. It is exquisite on you." Karen has now joined the kids at the mirror and she beams her approval as she places a hand on the shoulder of each teen. "Charles, please add this dress to our purchases."

"No, Mrs. Desai, this is too much…" Lacey embarrassing states.

Karen is even more insistent than Danny regarding Lacey's acceptance of this dress as a gift. "No, please accept this as our 'thank you' for helping Danny the past couple of months with trying to clear his name of all the trouble that has happened to him. It means a lot to us if you would allow us to do this small gesture towards you."

Lacey is touched. With both Karen and Danny looking expectantly at her, Lacey sees that she will not win this battle so she graciously says "You don't have to give me anything, but I will accept your beautiful gift. Thank you.''

Lacey and Danny both return to their dressing rooms to change. As Lacey waits for Karen to purchase the items at the register, she is alone with Danny again, who is standing a little too close to her, but she

doesn't move to allow some physical distance. She secretly wants to stand close to him…although she realizes this isn't exactly wise when she was trying to just be a friend to Danny.

"Did you read my journal?" Danny unexpectedly asks.

Lacey admitted: "No, I haven't yet."

Danny nods his head. "Promise me you will read it soon."

"I will. Look, Danny, I made a decision. I will accept your offer for friendship." Danny smiles. "Only friendship, Danny. I don't want anything more from anyone at this time."

Danny nods. "I can deal with 'just friendship.' Thank you, Lacey." Danny considers this the first victory in winning Lacey back. He wants her as his girlfriend again but friendship could be a good start. At least being her friend will allow him more access to her. He wants to ask her if this friendship will be extended to Jo; however, he knows not to press his luck with Lacey since Jo was still a sensitive subject between them. He would talk to Jo about apologizing to Lacey. Then, the girls could mend their

fractured relationship. If she gave him a chance, then Lacey surely would grant Jo one as well. Danny hates that he has not handled things properly with the girls and has helped their rift grow even wider.

Lacey says goodbye to Karen and Danny at the store. As she walks to her car with her new gift, she can't help that she has a little smile on her face and her heart feels that 'warm fuzzy' again even though she physically murmurs: "Lacey, he's just a friend..just a friend."

_**Thank you, readers. We are near the halfway point of Lacey's journey during her personal "break" in order to discover where her future path will lead. There are 6 more people who have input along her journey. One of them is quite insistent in my thoughts to make her appearance. Without further adieu, here is a teaser for the next chapter in early April…**_

Lacey had wondered what she would say if Jo dared to speak to Lacey after the Charlie kidnapping chaos. While she had not wanted harm to come to Jo via the delusional Charlie, she did not have 'warm and fuzzy' feelings towards her former friend. She only assisted Danny in rescuing Jo from Charlie's clutches because (a) it was the right thing to help someone in need if you could and (b) she would honor her former friendship with one last good deed before she dissolved all contact with Danny and Jo.

Since the Charlie debacle, she had tried to avoid Danny and Jo at school, only responding a nonchalant "hello" if they had dared to speak to her in Green Grove High's hallways. She had promptly deleted texts and emails from them without responding to them and she had not answered their phone calls. Until Danny had made a barrage of appearances in her life over the past several days, she had planned to refuse all extended communication with them to illustrate that they were no longer welcomed in her life. Danny's recent attempts showed his desire for Lacey's friendship again and a desire to show his love to her - if Lacey allowed him another chance at a romantic relationship.

Thus, she wasn't exactly surprised to see Jo materialize in front of her. She assumed Jo would have confirmed with Danny that Lacey had given them the 'cold shoulder' because she didn't want friendship with them.

"Could we talk?" Jo seemed nervous as well as a little anxious.

Although Lacey isn't in the mood for another emotional talk with an ex-friend especially in lieu of the multiple conversations with Danny, in which she had expounded the full portrait of her hurt and betrayal by him and Jo. However, since Danny had gotten his share of her pain, Jo should also be held accountable for her part in the destruction of their fragile trio. Lacey allows Jo to enter and invites her to sit in the living room. Lacey folds her arms as she looks at Jo with a neutral face.

Jo clears her throat. "How are you doing?" she begins. She offers a small smile.

"I'm fine." Lacey succinctly replies without an answering smile nor a responding question on Jo's well-being.

Jo continues: "I want to apologize."

"What for?" Lacey questions neutrally.

Jo earnestly responds "I apologize that you were hurt by Danny and me."

Lacey expresses a single laugh... "Hmmmph. An apology is an admission of a wrongdoing that directly caused a fault to another person. What you just gave me was **not** an apology."

DimplesValntina


	6. Chapter 6

The Break Chapter 6

Lacey had been busy purging. She had often heard that whenever one was feeling stressed or uncertain about a situation, then the person should try something 'physical' to release the excess energy and thus, allow the mind to focus on something other than the problem at hand. Often, the mind would become centered again once physical exhaustion claimed the rest of the body. So, Lacey had spent her Saturday morning sorting fashion magazines and books as well as editing her overflowing closet. She had placed the various piles into trash, repair, and charity donation. She placed the garbage into the bins in the garage and place the other two piles in storage containers so she could take to the appropriate destinations later that evening. She decided a relaxing shower was definitely needed to relax her muscles and to refresh from her physical labor. Physical labor was definitely the cure she needed to escape the thoughts of Danny/Jo/Archie.

Lacey dressed in a sporty yoga wear and gathered her hair in a side ponytail. She didn't need to dress fancy for a day of lounging around. She had the entire house to herself. She was glad for that. She could have nice silence without her mother questioning why Lacey was inside on such a beautiful day…that she should be hanging out with her friends. Lacey had turned down Sarita's invitation for another movie. She just didn't want to socialize today.

Her mother and sister would not be home until late afternoon. Judy and Clara were attending Clara's practice. Clara would be in competition to qualify for a spot on the NY Youth Gymnastics Traveling squad where pre-teens around the state would be coached by a former Olympic coach for six weeks this summer. The opportunity would be wonderful for Clara.

During their parents' tumultuous last years of marriage and the subsequent divorce, Lacey had begun to re-invent herself (without the shadow of Danny and Jo) and had emerged as a popular, well-liked social butterfly. Meanwhile, Clara had turned to gymnastics as her healing balm and had become a great athlete in that sport where she often won medals. Lacey was grateful that Clara had found something to focus her energies, like Lacey had. Even though the sisters had tried to be supportive to one another during those times of their parents' constant bickering, they each had needed an outlet to escape their bubble of hurt…an escape that was entirely their own – external of any 'family'. This helped them to form strong friendships and blossom into better individuals regardless of what stress existed at home.

Lacey was just finishing a glass of lemonade as she pondered what she wanted for lunch. She heard the doorbell ring. Frowning, she glanced at the clock and wondered who would be visiting since most of her mother's friends knew the Saturday schedule with Clara's practices. Sarita and Phoebe knew that Lacey was staying at home today and purging items. They wouldn't invade her privacy today. They knew she needed 'Lacey' time. Danny and Archie also knew that it wouldn't be wise to be overly persistent since she had granted both of them 'friendship' under the condition that they both adhere to the parameters of 'friendship' – not 'girlfriend/boyfriend relationship'.

Thus, Lacey couldn't imagine who her visitor could be. When she opened the door, there was Jo Masterson. Jo offered a hesitant smile with a greeting "Hi, Lacey." Lacey should have guessed this possible visitor. "Hello, Jo" was the cordial response Lacey gave.

Lacey had wondered what she would say if Jo dared to speak to Lacey after the Charlie kidnapping chaos. While she had not wanted harm to come to Jo via the delusional Charlie, she did not have 'warm and fuzzy' feelings towards her former friend. She only assisted Danny in rescuing Jo from Charlie's clutches because (a) it was the right thing to help someone in need if you could and (b) she would honor her former friendship with one last good deed before she dissolved all contact with Danny and Jo.

Since the Charlie debacle, she had tried to avoid Danny and Jo at school, only responding a nonchalant "hello" if they had dared to speak to her in Green Grove High's hallways. She had promptly deleted texts and emails from them without responding to them and she had not answered their phone calls. Until Danny had made a barrage of appearances in her life over the past several days, she had planned to refuse all extended communication with them to illustrate that they were no longer welcomed in her life. Danny's recent attempts showed his desire for Lacey's friendship again and a desire to show his love to her - if Lacey allowed him another chance at a romantic relationship.

Thus, she wasn't exactly surprised to see Jo materialize in front of her. She assumed Jo would have confirmed with Danny that Lacey had given them the 'cold shoulder' because she didn't want friendship with them.

"Could we talk?" Jo seemed nervous as well as a little anxious.

Although Lacey isn't in the mood for another emotional talk with an ex-friend especially in lieu of the multiple conversations with Danny, in which she had expounded the full portrait of her hurt and betrayal by him and Jo. However, since Danny had gotten his share of her pain, Jo should also be held accountable for her part in the destruction of their fragile trio. Lacey allows Jo to enter and invites her to sit in the living room. Lacey folds her arms as she looks at Jo with a neutral face.

Jo clears her throat. "How are you doing?" she begins. She offers a small smile.

"I'm fine." Lacey succinctly replies without an answering smile nor a responding question on Jo's well-being.

Jo continues: "I want to apologize."

"What for?" Lacey questions neutrally.

Jo earnestly responds "I apologize that you were hurt by Danny and me."

Lacey expresses a single laugh... "Hmmmph. An apology is an admission of a wrongdoing that directly caused a fault to another person. What you just gave me was **not** an apology."

Jo was contrite…she offered a small smile. "You're right…that wasn't a good apology. I'll try again." She took a deep breath. "Lacey, I'm sorry…truly sorry."

Lacey wasn't allowing the apology to be just simple words. Jo needed to expound the details regarding her misdeeds. "You're sorry for what precisely?" Lacey's eyebrows frowned a little to depict faux confusion as she wondered if Jo really understood what apologizing really meant. Lacey was certain that Jo was only here to appease Danny, who wanted Lacey's forgiveness to include Jo. During these weeks of avoiding Jo and Danny, Lacey had opportunities to revisit all her past interactions with her two 'friends'.

Distance from those two provided clarity…clarity she had not experienced before since she was directly involved with nearly every scheme and situation that had occurred since Danny's return to Green Grove. She corrected herself. 'Thanks to Jo and Danny, I was not as involved with the Vikram death cover-up nor as directly involved some of the Charlie mess, but I involved directly in clearing Danny's name from Regina's murder and Cole's poisioning as well as the fallout of the s*x tape and the aftermath of the inheritance from Vikram's will.' She mentally shook herself to reign in her thoughts.

Where was she? Oh, yeah, she could pinpoint the exact times that Jo had been too self-centered to care for anyone but herself. For instance, when the s*x tape was broadcast to everyone at the school, Jo stayed home. Lacey went to school to face the ridicule and public execution. Afterwards, goaded by Danny into showing kindness to Jo, Lacey and Danny experienced Jo's scorn and bitterness as she yelled at them. She had been too wrapped in her own sense of entitled-pain that she had not even considered how Danny and Lacey felt with their privacy violated. Jo had been unwilling to help Danny become cleared of the Regina murder charges when Danny had been in hiding when more damning evidence had surfaced pointing to his guilt. When Jo sensed that Lacey was hiding something, she followed Lacey back to Rico's hideout because she was self-centered again and now wanted to be a part of the trio because she had been left out.

Even recently, when Lacey felt that Danny was still hiding something, Lacey had mentioned her concerns to Jo, only for Jo to dismissively reply 'You know, it's the same ol' Danny…' Jo had stated that it was best that he 'was out of both of our lives'. Of course, she would say something like that when Jo herself was fully aware of all the facts surrounding Danny's strange behavior. Lacey, Danny's girlfriend, had been in the dark the whole time while Jo, their 'friend', knew everything. Jo had only been concerned about herself and that she move on with her life – not be a caring girlfriend to Lacey and help Lacey discern how best to help Danny during his moody, troubling times. All of these examples of Jo's horrendous treatment to her best 'girl friend" just made Lacey feel more disheartened and angry as she thought about the wasted opportunities that Jo had not taken - in order to rectify things and to prove worthy of the 'friendship' title.

The silence had become uncomfortable for Jo as she saw that Lacey's thoughts had drifted elsewhere. Jo thought that Lacey was being unresponsive because Lacey didn't believe her sincerity with the apology. Jo tries again as she nervously laughs. "Look, Lacey, I'm sorry for coming between you and Danny. I should have allowed him to be honest with you about Vikram's death. I thought that if we pretended that nothing was wrong, then the accident didn't really happen. I thought we could continue with our lives and not have to relive that night. We could forget everything. I was wrong. Keeping that secret from you was a mistake."

With Jo's continued speech, Lacey attention is brought back to the supposed purpose of Jo's visit – to apologize…to gain forgiveness and possible understanding. So far, Jo's contriteness is not successful enough. "Is that the only secret that you thought was a mistake?" Lacey questions.

"What do you mean?" Jo innocently asks; however, her eyes blink a little too rapidly for the innocence to be genuine.

"Any other secrets that you deem were a mistake? Any other…confessions…that you kept secret from me that you have now determined are a mistake?" Lacey inquired with better "innocence".

Jo nervously laughed again while she averted her eyes away from Lacey's stare and then her gaze returned to Lacey again. "I don't think so…"

Lacey looked up at the ceiling and then towards Jo but not directly. She pensively began…"Well, you don't think it is a 'mistake'. Let me re-phrase that. Is there another secret that you and Danny know but you perceive that I am unaware?"

Jo responds evasively "Lacey, what do you mean? Where are you going with this question?"

"When a person continually answers a question with other questions, that signals 'lying' to the person who wants to know answers. You are lying, Jo? What are you lying about?" Lacey is beginning to become irked the more that Jo evades the questions. Jo begins to shake her head in denial. Lacey has had enough. "Can't you even be honest about your half-truth or lie or omission…whatever title you want to encase it, the answers you have been giving me for the last few minutes have not been honest. If you want to truly apologize, being open about all the dirt you have done in 'secrecy' would be a good start."

"Lacey, I really don't know what you are talking about."

"Okay, I will clarify for you. You are still in love with Danny. Your being an accomplice in the Vikram death coverup was your way of staying connected to Danny in the only way that I wasn't connected to him."

Jo began to look uncomfortable. "Lacey…that's not true. It was best to not involve so many people so that we could protect them."

"Who's idea was it to not include anyone else in the knowledge around Vikram's death?"

"Well, I thought…" Jo began.

Lacey interrupted…she was good about interrupting especially when she wanted to make her thoughts fully known. "Yes, you thought it was best that only you and Danny knew…it would be your little secret. I was connected to Danny physically and emotionally. You saw this as your way to be bound to him since he was not interested in a relationship with you."

Jo began to get defensive. "That's not fair, Lacey. Besides, soon afterwards, you and Danny broke up. He came to me that night of your breakup and he stated that you thought he had feelings for me…"

"I was mistaken. I was hurt and felt betrayed that he had omitted the truth from me. Truth…remember that? You seem so self-righteous when people have kept the truth from you. Yet, you are so willing to participate in keeping the truth from others. You're such a hypocrite!" Lacey's temper had begun to rise.

Jo began to get angry. "Fine. So, I kept the truth from you. It began to get easier as time went by and everything happened so fast with Vikram's body ruled a car accident instead and then Charlie happened…then Danny confessed that he had feelings for me that wouldn't go away…that he felt the same way that I did…"

Lacey became incensed "Yes, this confession that was spurred on because he was in a bad mental place. He had been consumed by the guilt of causing his father's death…guilt of Jack being arrested for the crime…guilt that his time in Juvie with Charlie had caused Charlie to become fixated with his life. He had all these stressful things happening. So, yes, he was confused and scared. This caused him to question things. I was angry about it but I began to emphasize a little with what he must have been going through."

"So, you understand…" Jo began to calm down.

"No…I said I emphasized with him. What I don't understand is that you should have reacted better to his distress. You should have been a better friend to him and to me. Instead, you seized the opportunity when he was in a heightened state so that you could work things to your advantage…" Lacey was adamant that Jo see her role in this friendship debacle.

"No, that's not entirely true, Lacey…." Jo shook her head vehemently in her denial.

" Time to face the facts, Jo. You aren't a good friend. Friends don't do actions that cause another friend to hurt…because hurting that friend would be like hurting oneself." Lacey explained.

"I'm sorry. I am trying to be a good friend, Lacey. I would never want to hurt you…." Jo's eyes actually misted.

"Too late. I'm hurt. I'm angry. I'm unwilling to accept bogus apologies with crocodile tears." Lacey had enough from today's wasted visit with Jo. She rose to go towards the door in order to command Jo to leave.

Jo stood but refused to follow. "Lacey, please wait."

_*** Now, what more could Jo possibly say to Lacey? Is she going to be sincere and fully apologize for all of her behavior? Does Lacey have more to say to Jo? Tune into Chapter 7 of The Break this week. **_

_**Lovely Readers, thank you for your comments and for reading. Thank you also for your patience while I write other Dacey fics. The other fics keep popping into my mind…demanding time to be put onto paper as outlines and demanding time to be fleshed into fully-realized published fics. I have some other stories that I have been brainstorming as well…lol. However, this week will be The Break Chapter 7 (aka Jo Part 2) and After the Burn as the main focus. **_

_**Thank you again!**_

_**DimplesValntina **_


	7. Chapter 7

_***After communication with a fellow Lovely Reader, I gained insight that it might be helpful if I preface a chapter with the characters that will be in that specific chapter. That way, if one of the characters is somewhat irksome, like a certain blonde character (lol), then the reader can gauge if they want to continue with this chapter or skip to the next one…or read another fic of mine instead. **_

_**So, with that in mind, this chapter contains only Lacey and Jo. It is the continuation of their discussion at Lacey's home where Jo had given a very poor apology. This fic is pro-Lacey and ending pro-Dacey, but present chapter contains Lacey and Jo. However, I feel it ends on a realistic note…like the saying goes "Some people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime…" Let's see what that holds for Jo… **_

**The Break Chapter 7**

"Lacey, please wait." Jo had come to Lacey's house to apologize. Somehow, the apology had fallen flat. She knew that Danny would be disappointed if she did not try again for Lacey's forgiveness.

"I think you should leave. We aren't accomplishing anything here. Until you are honest with me and more importantly, honest with yourself, then it does no good to talk with you." Lacey states. She feels like she is beginning to have another headache. All these confrontations were causing a lot of stress. She never had headaches much in the past. However, she also never had such emotional rollercoasters to occur successively in her life either.

"I can be honest…just a few more minutes please." Jo's gaze implores Lacey to allow her some more time to talk with her.

Lacey looks at Jo…really looks at her. She looks past the ragamuffin sweater, past the wild curly blonde hair, and looks at Jo's face. Lacey remembers a similar look when her nearly 14-year-old self had told Jo that Jo needed to "buckled up and forget about Danny". Lacey could still envision that day when she tried to state the hard facts to Jo, who had refused to consider rational thought regarding their friend, Danny.

Back then, Lacey had tried every avenue to force Jo to be realistic on their situation. "Look, Jo, it's been almost 3 years. His last appeal failed. Face it, he's gone and may never come back until we have graduated college. Don't you get tired of all the taunts at school – 'oh, those are the friends of the child murderer'? Don't you want to just fit in and be 'normal'? Don't you want to live again? Aren't you tired of being so sad all the time?" However, Jo was adamant that Danny would be home again… that the girls should 'just wait a while longer'. Lacey had decided that she wanted to live again. She wanted to be free of the stigma associated with Danny. When his appeal had failed, her last hope had died. She had to face reality. The Danny she knew was gone. Even if he were to be released, he would be a different Danny…someone she may not even want to know again.

Lacey had let Jo know her decision that she was reluctantly saying 'goodbye' to Danny at that time. When Jo responded with a flat-out refusal to "release the ghost of Danny", then Lacey told Jo that she was moving on in life without her. She would never forget the haunted look on Jo's face when Lacey turned to leave their fort and to leave their friendship behind. That was the same haunted look that Jo was giving her now. For that little girl of yester-year, Lacey would grant one last moment…probably one last goodbye yet again.

Lacey closes the door that she had opened to show Jo out of her house. She still leaves her hand on the door handle. "What is it, Jo? What more is there to say?"

Jo offers a hesitant smile that falters as she seems to struggle to find words. Jo twists her hands as she answers Lacey. "I seem to not know the right things to say or do. Can you meet me a little bit…I don't want things to end badly for us."

Lacey is perplexed. Her brows furrow as she questions "How were things _**supposed**_ to end Jo? I saw the looks between you and Danny in the school hallway that day. I was suspicious that maybe you had pushed forward and tried to pursue a relationship with Danny. At first, I was hurt…I was numb with pain. Then, I was angry. I was angry that a 'friend', who kept saying that it was 'fine' for Danny and me to date…that you were 'okay' if Danny and I wanted a relationship - although, I didn't need your permission to date Danny. We could do whatever we wanted to do. However, it made me so furious that this same 'friend' could backstab me."

"Lacey, I didn't backstab you!" Jo is fretful that Lacey has misunderstood her point of view.

Lacey comes away from the door to stand closer to Jo. "Yes, **you** did, Jo! You were the 'friend' who would undermine Danny and my relationship several weeks later. If the tables had been turned and this was a guy who had been in a relationship with you, I would have told him that he should take some time and some space away from everything…that he should re-evaluate everything with a clear head. I would have highlighted all the happy times he had with you. I would have reminded him of all the good things that you two had shared together. I would have been very vocal - that giving up on that special girl would be his ultimate regret. I would have been the biggest cheerleader for you two to get back together!" Lacey's face is pained as she puts her hand over her heart to illustrate her conviction.

Jo wants to interrupt but Lacey does not let her. Lacey continues fuming. "Did I get that consideration from you? No! Did it even register how I would feel if you pursued a relationship with Danny, from whom I had been only a short time separated? No, you were thirsty. You were selfish! You weren't a **friend**. You were a hypocrite – accusing others of wrongdoing whereas you yourself had no qualms about the slights you were doing to others by your own actions! You were doing these things to me – a supposed friend….a friend who risked her life trying to save you…a **friend**, Jo!"

"Lacey, I am grateful for your friendship and all that you have done for me. Please believe me, I am your friend…" Jo's eyes widen as she tries to correct Lacey.

Lacey negates what Jo is uttering. "Friend? Do you even know what it means to be a friend? It means to be **supportive**, Jo. It means to be a sounding board, a warm hug, a thoughtful gesture, a confidant. When have you been those qualities to me…the 16 year-old-me? What you did - betray a girlfriend - is even worse. It is against 'girl code' to want to be with your friend's ex-boyfriend. Oh, yeah, I forgot…you just had me as your 'lone' girlfriend and actually, we hadn't been **friends** for a very long time. Funny thing though…I thought we had begun working our way towards a friendship of sorts. That day I helped you get ready for Homecoming, I thought it was fun putting on makeup together and having 'girl talk'. You even expressed that it felt nice and you could picture that this closeness was how we would be - if things had turned out differently with us. I thought you meant that sentiment."

"I did mean it." Jo is tearful.

Lacey shakes her head. "No, everything with you is **'conditional'**. You are friends with someone if all conditions suit you: if you get your way, if you don't feel hurt, if you are happy…those connections are all **'conditional'**…all fragile."

Jo denies. "Lacey, that is not true…"

Lacey continues as her knowledge of Jo paints a forlorn picture. "You even love **'conditionally'**. Danny had feelings for me and pursued me for a relationship. When you found out about that relationship, your friendship with him was **'conditional'** because you fell in love with him. If Danny didn't have romantic feelings for you in return, you didn't want to help him clear his name nor help him stay out of danger when he was running from the law."

Jo doesn't like hearing Lacey's recollections of Jo's interactions with her friends over this last year. "But I did help him…." Jo begins.

Lacey counters "Only when you suspected that _**I **_might be helping Danny….that is why you followed me to Rico's. If you had no suspicions, then you would not have been present to hear Danny's confession of innocence in Tara's murder."

Jo pounces on the detail to show Lacey that she is wrong. "Once I heard his confession, then I helped Danny."

Lacey had a silent small ironic laugh. She smirked "Yeah, you helped Danny alright. You were involved with the accidental murder of Vikram. Danny said he had to kill his father in order to save **your** life. Yet, you let him carry that guilt on his shoulders. You didn't want him to share that news with others who could have helped him. That was another **'conditional'**. If he didn't share everything with me, then that was a way to have him tied to you."

"I honestly didn't think of it that way. We were trying to protect you." Jo reasoned.

"Save it, Jo. The damage is done. Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, **conditions**…when Danny tried to warn you about Charlie being dangerous, you believed Charlie. Charlie was a stranger you had only known for weeks; yet, you believe him over the word of Danny, your lifelong friend. Again, you were **'conditional'** because Charlie was trying to court you. Since you were infatuated with Charlie, you turned your back on Danny, your friend who needed your support and your trust. You turned your back on him - until you decided you needed his help…you were only willing to believe in Danny once you saw Charlie's erratic behavior. Your love, your loyalty, your friendship is all **'conditional' **to whatever is convenient to you…convenient to however a situation is affecting you at this specific moment…not something a friend can depend upon for the long-term. You are the very definition of a 'fair-weathered friend'…only a true friend if the weather is blowing favorable in your direction. Your kind of friendship doesn't stand the slightest bit of wind…much less any major storm."

"Lacey, that's not fair. I know I have messed up before, but what about you? You have turned your back on Danny, too!" Jo didn't like hearing Lacey tally all the friendship violations that she had done to Danny and to Lacey.

Lacey nodded her head to affirm just a bit of what Jo had said. "I did turn my back on Danny after his 3rd year in Juvie. I regretted that once he re-entered our lives and appeared vulnerable…just a guy trying to reclaim his life. I even tried to make peace with him by trying to assist in clearing his name of Regina's murder. Once we became involved romantically, I gave him my trust – until he was dishonest about the necklace. Yes, I turned my back on him at that time because a true friend has to be honest for the friendship to succeed. However, once I found evidence suggesting that Danny was framed, I worked hard to clear his name once and for all of the Regina murder charges."

Lacey stares intently at Jo. "After that, I still remained a true friend to Danny….remained loyal even though he became moody and distant. I was loyal - even after the breakup where he left my heart shredded from the lies and omissions surrounding Vikram's death. Nonetheless, I couldn't even harden my heart to drive him completely out of my life…I forced myself to listen to his crazed rants about Charlie being dangerous. I was so loyal that I even drove him to save you that day – when he was so unbelievably worried about your safety. I didn't hold any **'conditions' **regarding my allegiance. I did all of this to help…boldly declaring that 'it really was all about the friendship between the three of us' - even if I was convinced that Danny was going to turn romantically towards you after the Charlie chaos was over. I did that out of loyalty to my friends – even though my heart was torn into pieces. I tried to make peace that if you two were indeed destined to be together, then I would sacrifice my happiness for yours. Would you have done that, Jo?"

"L…Lacey…" Jo stammers.

"Would you have done that, Jo? Would you have sacrificed your happiness for me? For Danny? Even if it meant your heart was in shreds, would you make that sacrifice for a 'friend'?" Lacey eyes had filled and a tear escaped down her cheek.

"I…uhmm" Jo clears her throat which has become clogged by hearing and seeing the depth of emotion coming from Lacey. Her eyes had also filled. "I don't know, Lacey. I really don't know. I haven't had to even consider someone else's happiness in a very long time. When Danny went away and when we went our separate ways, my parents saw I was extremely unhappy. It was like they made it their mission to make sure that I was granted everything I wanted. Next, I had Rico, who did everything I wanted and he enjoyed being around me all the time. That was what I had…until Danny came back into our lives."

Jo smiles sadly as she recalls that time. "I loved that he brought excitement back to my life. I loved that he had that 'never-say-die' spirit when the whole town was against him. Eventually, I thought it was kinda cool that he was working to bring our trio back together again. Little did I know – until the tape – that I had missed a lot of major clues that had been in plain view. I was just too self-absorbed to notice those clues. When I thought about all the suddenly-hushed conversations I had wandered upon between the two of you…those intense looks that you two were always giving each other…Danny's incessant actions that he took to re-connect with you again…that relentless persistence should have been a flashing neon sign that he was acting more than a 'friend'. I was so mad at myself. I had made a fool of myself - practically pronouncing my love for him that day in front of the school board and whole town."

Lacey starts to stop Jo in her speech, but Jo held up her palm. "Please, Lacey, let me finish. You wanted honesty so let me be really honest, okay? See, I was also jealous. I was jealous of your popularity…you were the most beautiful girl in school. When you had that sleepover where your mom forced an invitation to include me, I was jealous of the camaraderie you had with Phoebe and Sarita. When I saw them bonding with you, I presumed that if Danny hadn't left for Juvie, then you and I would have still been as close."

Lacey nods at this. If Danny had never been sentenced for a crime and sent to Juvie, the trio probably would have remained intact. Although she never would have wanted Danny to receive punishment for a crime he didn't commit, Lacey could not regret the past five years where she had grown immensely nor regret the new friendships and experiences she had formed and explored.

Jo was so wrapped in her confession, that she had not noticed Lacey's nodded confirmation. "I didn't have your confidence. You had a boyfriend and you had Danny, who vied for you and won. When I saw that tape, I was dumbfounded that I had no one, but you had 2 boys who wanted to be yours. I didn't care about Archie, but I did care that Danny was the other boy. It reminded me of the closeness that Danny and you shared when we were younger. When we were sledding, I was always in front with your hands holding onto me, but you had Danny's arms holding onto you. When we would do sleepovers and watch movies, Danny would tease you about hiding your eyes behind your hands during the scary movie scenes. Whenever a boy would tease you about your curly hair that day or when Kevin tried to steal a kiss from you that time, Danny was always your defender."

"Danny defended you, too. Jo, he cared for you, too. You know he did…he was close to both of us." Lacey states.

Jo shakes her head. "Now, who's not being completely honest? You two would plant tadpoles in a teacher's desk because she had been unfair to Danny. He didn't even ask me to join him in his act of vengeance. He asked you. You two had a connection that was different from the connection I had with Danny. I would even sometimes notice him staring at you when you weren't noticing. That sex tape brought back all of those long-buried memories."

Jo takes a deep breath and releases it. "Lacey, I guess if I were really honest, I would say I did feel a little bit of jealousy when I saw you were helping Danny to clear his name while he was in hiding. I then thought 'Hey, this is my chance to also help him' and that is what I initially was trying to do. When I disobeyed Danny – staying there during his meeting with Vikram – I thought I was doing the right thing. I was trying to tape Vikram's confession. When Vikram tried to hurt me and Danny had accidently killed him as a result, I told Danny to keep everything a secret. I really did think it was the best at the time. However, after talking to you today….I reflect back, and I think 'Oh, my God, I had a subconscious reason for that secret, too.' I think I also saw it as a way of having something **finally** that you didn't have…I had something to share with Danny that you didn't. I really didn't realize that until our talk tonight."

Jo looked at Lacey with very sad eyes as her personal realization left her reeling somewhat. She continued her assessment. "When things went south with your relationship with Danny, I half-heartedly resisted him when he came to me confused. Then, Lacey, I got swept away in the rush that finally, **finally**, Danny noticed me, the girl who had been there all along – just waiting for him to pay attention to me…to recognize feelings **for me**. I, the nerdy girl, had won the boy's love…I had triumphed over the popular girl. The feeling was heady. You are right. I wasn't thinking nor reacting as a friend. I was just reacting as a girl who saw something she wanted and it was _**right there**_ within her grasp – just for the taking. Wow, you were right…I'm a terrible friend…a really, really horrible friend. I'm sorry…so…so…sorry." Jo's confession ended on a sob as she lowered her head to her chest and began softly crying.

Part of Lacey still wanted to lash out at Jo…to hurt her as Lacey still hurt. However, a bigger part of Lacey warred against that. It was those long-buried feelings making their presence in 'real life' again…making her feel some pity for the friend her younger self had loved. Lacey didn't feel those same warm feelings for Jo of present day but she would honor that memory of the past. Like years ago, Lacey decided at that very instant, that she didn't want to feel sad nor angry anymore. If she could forgive Danny, then as her last act of kindness (for the friend she once knew so long ago), Lacey would forgive Jo. Consequently, like years ago, Lacey knew she was leaving this friendship behind. Even though she knew it was the right thing to do, she prepared herself to receive that haunted look from Jo again - except this time it would be a 16-year-old Lacey saying a final goodbye.

_***Lovely Readers, thank you for your reading and for your continued support. This fic has had lots of emotional turns so far. The hardest thing to reconcile within your heart is when the past memories collide with the current present state of a situation. It looks like Jo was active in Lacey's life for a very long season. Now, what does this mean for Danny, who is still friends with both girls? Also, who else influences Lacey's journey as she realizes her full potential?**_

_**P.S. To my readers of 'After the Burn', I promise 2 chapters this weekend since I have been busy this week and since this 'Jo' chapter would not leave my mind until I had put my thoughts together to complete Chapter 7 of 'The Break'. Thank you for your continued patience. **_

_**DimplesValntina **_


	8. Chapter 8

_****Before we continue on Lacey's "journey" during The Break, I wanted to offer some feedback in response to a comment. **_

_**When one feels betrayed, there are usually two common reactions: retaliation or re-evaluation (as well as equations where both are applied in different proportions). When a person is betrayed by 'friends', then there is an extra layer of vulnerability that has been exposed. The person who has been betrayed feels hurt, anger, or sadness towards those causing the offense. For one's own self, the betrayed feels violation or self-derision and may question their ability to make sound decisions regarding others. **_

_**We all know that our Lacey is an excellent critical thinker. She analyzes EVERYTHING. Throughout this season on Twisted, we have numerous examples of all the 'Nancy Drew' crime sleuthing Lacey has done to assist Chief Masterson and his department. If Lacey feels that Danny and Jo's betrayal slipped by her normally alert self, then she is going to be more self-reflective in order to evaluate those she has allowed to get close to her. Remember those walls she established so well in the 5 years Danny spent away in Juvie? Remember the select group of popular friends she allowed in her life and how the re-appearance of Danny (and subsequently Jo) in her life was such a jolting juxtaposition to the social position in life she had established in order to survive the Tara Desai murder fallout?**_

_**The Lacey we know and love would not ignore this betrayal and continue about life, going to school with Danny and Jo, witnessing a possible romance and NOT MENTION anything. **__**Another**__** reader remarked that Lacey seemed hurt in the finale's hallway scene.**__** I watched that scene and agreed.**__** Thus, our Lacey would not silently continue at Green Grove without 'speaking her mind' (i.e. confronting Danny about letting Jack take the blame for Vikram's murder, confronting Whitley about her lies and rebuking liars from her life, and most importantly confronting Danny endlessly about his mood swings and dishonesty – which led to their breakup).**_

_**If Lacey can be this crusader for 'what is just', then most certainly she would feel fully invested in matters that are personal to her. She realizes that although she has been very observant towards others, she has missed details very close to her (missing the forest for the trees…Danny was the impression but she forego the fine detail to see the betrayal – so to speak). **_

_**The betrayal by someone she loves strikes a nerve especially when a girl has encountered that same 'betrayal' from her dad. This was a dad that not only divorced her mother (breaking apart the family and Lacey's idea of marital love) but a dad that also had a hidden 'secret' life. So, this was a double betrayal to Lacey. She would feel devastated when her own love life had a betrayal as well. She would have doubts about her capabilities in choosing the right kinds of friends and future loves. **_

_**Our Queen Lacey is very special. She needs to take a break….take a breath from the continuing churning of events that have occurred since Danny's arrival back at Green Grove. Thus, Lacey is indeed on a journey of recovery. **__**Recovery isn't for the friends. Recovery is for one's self in order to forgive and move on. Forgiveness isn't really for the other person. Forgiveness is ultimately to allow one to release the hurt and anger in order to recognize and permit other blessings or triumphs to enter one's world. **_

_**Lacey is working to heal herself first. Whoever she allows in her life during and after that healing is determined by Lacey herself. This time she is more selective and will only allow those of worth to be a part of her life again. **_

_**With this, I hope I have explained more about the continued theme of 'The Break'. As always, thank you for reading. I hope you continue to enjoy.**_

_**P.S. The following chapter contains minor Jo references (she won't be a heavy-handed focus, but Judy will get a synopsis of events). However, Jo does not receive the focus that the last 2 chapters have emphasized. This chapter is about Lacey "coming clean" to her mother about things that have happened in her life and re-connecting with her mother. **_

_**DimplesValentina**___

**The Break Chapter 8**

When Judy had returned with Clara from gymnastics practice, Lacey was glad for their intrusion into her thoughts. She had been nursing a headache since Jo's departure. Part of the headache was from the crying she had done. She had needed that cathartic release. Lacey was convinced she had done the right thing: she had forgiven Jo and she had said a final goodbye. However, that conviction didn't make things less painful. She had taken a moment to grieve for her 11 year old memories and grieve for what could have been - if the trio could have truly reconnected and grown closer. Lacey didn't know if there would be any reconciliation in the future with Jo. Maybe years down the road would heal wounds and erase any residue fallout. What she knew now was that they lives had reached an impasse, one that required each to go their own separate ways. Lacey wanted to only concentrate on her present – a present that would be without Jo.

The other part of the afternoon headache was Danny. Lacey's cell phone had rung about an hour after Jo had left her home. Lacey had ignored it once she saw that the call was from Danny. Shortly afterwards, there had been a text asking Lacey to call or text him back. Likewise, she ignored that. Periodically for the past two hours several calls and text from Danny had continually occurred. Similarly, Lacey ignored those as well.

Lacey guessed that Jo had informed Danny immediately of Lacey's decision to end their friendship. Thus, Lacey did not want to discuss her decision with Danny. She had been drained from these exhaustive talks she had the past several days with multiple people in her life. She didn't want Danny's questioning her wisdom over ending the friendship. She didn't want to be bombarded with Danny's attempt to persuade her to re-consider her decision nor did she want his manipulative tactics to coerce her emotionally either.

Lacey had either witnessed or experienced the myriad of Danny's psychological tricks that he used when he wanted situations to result as he desired. Part of her in the past had been excited by this new side of Danny; it was a little rebellious, a little mesmerizing, and a little daunting. All of these new traits, coupled with the unexpected s*xual tension between them, had been an arousing combination that Lacey could not ignore. Before she had known, those traits had awakened a desire in her that had her body responding to him before her brain could illicit rational thought. Once she kissed him, that pandora's box had opened and her heart as well as her body had propelled tumultuously towards Danny Desai.

Lacey knew she needed to be emotionally and mentally prepared for the onslaught of Danny's maneuvers to influence her decision. She would even lock her bedroom window and draw both the sheers and the curtains to block any light into the room – thus effectively denying Danny entrance into her room tonight. Lacey was at the dining room table where she had been sitting since she had taken some medication. The pain reliever Lacey had taken was beginning to take effect thankfully. She had never taken experienced many headaches before but the stress had taken its toll the past few weeks. Later, she would prepare herself for "battle" with Danny whenever she faced him again. Right now, she just wanted a stress-free evening…a welcomed distraction with little light-hearted conversation with her family.

As Judy enters their home chattering with Clara, Lacey notices that they had brought dinner with them. "Hey, you two." Lacey greets them.

"Hi, sweetheart. Did you miss us?" Judy smiles at her older daughter.

"Yeah, did you miss us? You should have come! Coach Goss asked about you. He said he hadn't seen you in a while at the practices or meets. He's threatening to put you back onto the team." Clara teases Lacey.

Lacey smiles back at her mom and sister. "No, I didn't miss you guys…Queen Lacey loved having the castle to myself." She looks towards Clara and replies "And you tell Coach Goss that I still remember that popped left ankle tendon from years ago. Now, every time I almost fall, it is due to that old ankle injury. The physical therapist said that my left side will always be weaker than the other one and more prone to accidents on that side. So, no, thank you, I won't be going back to gymnastics." Lacey ruffles her sister's curls playfully as Clara passed near her to dump her bookbag onto a chair at the dining room table.

Clara looked physically a lot like Lacey at age 10. The exception was that Clara wore her hair curly a lot while Lacey mostly styled her hair in straighter or with loose waves instead. They both possessed dimples – a trait from their mother. In fact, adults often complimented Judy how much her daughters favored their beautiful mother. Judy, while in her early 40's, was still in great shape and often turned heads with her beauty. She also had an infectious personality, another trait she passed onto her girls. Judy had just begun to start back dating…something Lacey was delighted to see. Her mother had been sad a long time. Her eyes had started to sparkle again since she was enjoying life once more. Likewise, Lacey hoped that she, too, would become happy and carefree again. She knew it would happen someday. She just had to be patient…unfortunately, that was sometimes the hardest part.

Her mother had picked up Italian from a favored restaurant as well as carrot cake, with rich cream cheese icing and slivered almonds, from Woulette's. That carrot cake was one of their favorite desserts. Lacey thoroughly enjoyed the security of comfort food and the company of her mother and sister.

Lacey and Clara store any leftovers in the refrigerator and tidy the kitchen while their mother returns calls regarding possible work. Part of Judy's transitioning after divorce included taking her the broker's examination again for re-certification. When Lacey was born, Samuel and Judy had decided that Judy would work part-time. When Clara was born, Samuel had a management position within the I/T Department of his company and both he and Judy determined the family could survive on one income.

This allowed them to forego daycare costs while Judy could raise the children herself until they started elementary school. Their plan had worked well with Judy being able to pursue her additional interests on various charities and school boards after the girls started school. However, once the marriage started crumbling and the divorce occurred, Judy found that she needed to discover once again what made her happy – which was working full-time in her previous field. She was working with some job recruiters and eagerly awaiting feedback from some favorable second round set of interviews.

Clara excused herself for some time on her laptop before their mother called for "curfew" to shut down the system for the night. As part of their normal nightly routine, Clara hugged and snuggled her face next to Lacey's as Lacey sat on the sofa while tv channel surfing. Lacey snuggled back with a warm hug. "Goodnight, Peanut. Sleep tight." Lacey says her usual wish.

Clara's new periodic response is "Peanut? You always call me 'Peanut." When am I going to get a grown-up nickname?"

"What? 'Peanut' is a fine nickname." Lacey grinned. She continued "When Mom and Dad brought you home in that blanket…"

"You reminded me of a little peanut…" Clara echoed Lacey's common spiel whenever Clara questioned the sisterly nickname Lacey had called her for years. "I'm almost 11, you know."

"And you will always be my little 'Peanut'." Lacey responded as she tickled Clara's side. Clara giggled as she escaped with a "Goodnight, Sissy" as she sprinted up the stairs to her bedroom. Lacey smiled at Clara's retreating figure as she hoped that her sister would choose the right set of friends and boyfriends in the future and never experience heartache. Of course, Lacey knew this was just wishful thinking and not entirely realistic. Still, she could hope that Clara's heartache would be minimal.

Judy entered the living room where Lacey was mindlessly watching a mystery on television. "Guess who is the newest employee at Olsen & Fisher?" Judy questioned with an excited glow on her face.

"You got the job! Congratulations, Mom!" Lacey gives her mother a big hug. "When do you start?"

"I start in two weeks. That is time enough for me to shop for a couple of new wardrobe items. We can celebrate tomorrow night – my treat." Judy dimpled smile depicts her pride at scoring a wonderful position.

"No, Mom, my treat. I insist." Lacey stops her mother's protests. "You spend money on us all the time. Let me treat the three of us to a beauty day of manicures and pedicures. It will be fun. I won't take 'no' for an answer. "

"Okay, since you insist. I wonder from where you get this bossiness? It couldn't possibly come from my side of the family." Judy teases her daughter.

"I think I get it equally from both sides." Lacey laughs.

"Well, thank you, honey. That was very thoughtful." Judy hugs Lacey again and kisses the Lacey's temple as she sat down to join Lacey on the sofa.

"While I hate to break up the wonderful Mother-Daughter moment we just had, I need to ask you something…." Judy began as she looked Lacey directly in the eye.

"Sure, Mom, what is it?" Lacey questioned.

Judy innocently recalled "Well, I received another call after I finished talking to my job recruiter. It was Meredith, from across the street, who wanted to know why Jo Masterson left here upset this afternoon. She appeared to be crying."

"Mrs. Krause sure does like to be nosey, doesn't she?" is Lacey's casual reply.

Judy nods her head as she agrees. "Yes, Mrs. Krause is convinced that our neighborhood is a reality show in the making. So, why was Jo crying?" Judy will not be deterred by Lacey.

Lacey looks at her mother and decides to tell her everything that has happened over the past year. She had not meant to blurt everything but in order to fully convey why she and Jo were no longer friends, she needed to relay the events that brought Jo to their home this afternoon. As Lacey told her story, Judy's facial expressions and body language went from shock to parental anger to empathy.

"Lacey, why didn't you tell me any of these things? I knew that you were slowly bonding with Jo and Danny, although I wasn't warm towards your reconnection with Danny. However, if Kyle Masterson seemed to be monitoring Danny's activity, then I felt that I should allow you a little freedom concerning Danny – until he made any error in judgment which affected you. Your father and I still had some contention over my decision but we agreed to disagree – until we had just cause, from the police or from any drop in your school grades, to prevent any interactions with Danny." Judy had gotten up from the sofa to walk pace as she communicated her alarm at hearing what Lacey had been through.

Judy continued "I saw Danny looking at you the night of Fall Fest. You were beautiful and he was a handsome young man, who would of course, notice you. You already had a boyfriend so I didn't worry. When you broke up with Archie, I didn't see you heartbroken so I thought that maybe your friends were helping you to cope. That Homecoming Night, when you told me that Danny was your date and you were going to get ready at Jo's home, I thought 'Okay, maybe this is a good thing. They were all friends once before. Maybe Danny can have a new start. After all, he was cleared of Regina's murder. He also served his time for Tara's murder. Maybe there were extenuating circumstances that caused a young boy to do that thing. Besides, the Chief of Police seemed to be allowing his daughter to interact with Danny. So, I should loosen my protective grip on Lacey.' Now, you tell me about Vikram's accidental murder and that Jo and Danny kept that secret from the police until they couldn't any longer! How could you keep this from me?"

Lacey remains silent. She had not informed her mother about the s*x tape but she had alluded that she had Danny had become very close. Moreover, Lacey had told her mother that she had fallen in love with Danny – only to become disillusioned twice due to his lack of full honesty and due to the betrayal with Jo. That is what stops Judy from her angry outburst: she notices the hurt and sadness on Lacey's face. Lacey is slumped over with her elbows and lower arms resting on top of her thighs as she looks down at the carpet. Judy knows that look and the accompanying feel of a broken heart. So, Judy takes several deep breaths as she runs her hands over her face. She sits back down on the sofa close to Lacey as she reigns in her anger to become the nurturing Mama Bear that Lacey needs.

Judy starts the conversation again. "Okay, so you and Jo are no longer friends. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Mom." Lacey replies as she raises her gaze to Judy's.

Judy shakes her head. "You see, this is the time it comes in handy to be your mother. You have had the same tale-tell sign since you were seven. So, I know when you aren't being entirely truthful."

Lacey is perplexed and frowns as she wonders "What tale-tell sign?"

Judy issues a small smile. "Uh uh, I am not giving up my advantage on you. So, spill, sweetheart. Tell mommy what else is bothering you."

Lacey counters "Do you wish you could just go back and time and change things?"

Judy sighs with a slight laugh. "Yes, I have definitely felt that over the last few years." She sighs again. "Although I wished to have been spared some of those more painful moments, I had to let go of that despair. If those specific things had not happened, then I would not be the healthier person that I am today. I would not have known how much strength I had. I also would not have known how much courage that I could summon to face my obstacles. So, yes, I would probably be tempted to change the course of fate if I were given the power to go back in time. I might entertain the idea to interfere and tweak future occurrences, but then I would have to analyze why I would allow those changes. Would I prefer not to experience that fear, hurt, betrayal, and anger? Of course, I would love to eliminate that. However, what would that accomplish? Would I still be in an unhappy marriage? Yes, most likely. Would I still be in a stalemate career-wise? Yes, I would. Would I be not nurturing myself and thus sacrificing what I could offer to my beautiful little girls?" Judy emphasized her words by framing Lacey's cheek with one of her palms.

Judy smiled encouragement as a tear escaped her eyes to trail down her cheek. "So, these wounds I have gotten over the past few years, I became proud of them." She gives a laugh. "I survived and I am trying to move on towards better things. These past few years, I have tried to channel that fear, hurt, and anger into more positive energies. Now, there are some days when the negative seemed to outweigh any positives. However, there was usually some glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel as long as I continued forward. You girls have helped me." Judy puts her arm around Lacey's shoulders as Lacey begins to have her own tears trail down her face.

Lacey's watery inquiry is "How did we help? Clara is too young and I know I have shut you out when sometimes you have wanted to become closer." Her voice breaks. "I am sorry for that."

Judy wipes away Lacey's tears with her free hand. She shakes her head. "Sweetheart, don't beat yourself up over the past. I know you have been dealing with lots of things: the divorce, having Danny Desai re-appear in Green Grove and having to interact with him at your school. Plus, you had the breakup with Archie. I also notice that you had not had your friends over lately to visit. Yes, you had become somewhat closed-off regarding your personal life. Now, I know what was prompting that silence."

Judy continues as she consoles Lacey. "I am your mother and I want you to confide things to me. Even if I become a little upset, don't shut me out. I can help shoulder your burdens. I hear that the new-age mothers have to learn when to pursue and when to back away with growing teenagers. I've been trying to do that: light coercing, coddling, sweet-talking – whatever will give me feedback with you. Sometimes it works and sometimes it fails miserably – especially when I try to be hip and talk in front of your friends about my being 'a single lady and trying to get someone to put a ring on it'."

Lacey laughs and grimaces as she remembers that 'hipness' the day in front of the cupcake bakery when Judy had bought treats for Lacey's sleepover.

Judy smiles as she recalls that time as well. She persists with the conversation to connect with her daughter. "But I keep trying because that is what mothers do. You have to let me try and you have to meet me halfway. Let me know what is going on inside of you. Let me into your life."

Lacey nods her head. She is contrite. "I am sorry. I do love you. I think I decided to shut you and dad out because I was just hurt from all the years of hearing you and Dad bicker. I even think I had blamed some things subconsciously on you – until the day of Clara's birthday party when we found out that Dad was gay. Then, I realized how wrong I had been. I also felt ashamed that I had held the dissolution of the marriage solely upon your shoulders. It never occurred to me – until that day – that Dad had been the primary reason why the marriage had failed. I'm sorry."

Judy rests her head against Lacey's. "Hey, I can't let your dad take full responsibility. I won't make him into the 'bad guy'. It would be very easy to lay the blame on his shoulders but that would not be fair." She raises her head again to look Lacey in the eyes as she tucks Lacey's hair behind her ear. She smiles at her wonderful daughter. "See, honey, that is Mom being the 'grown up'."

Judy inhales and exhales sharply as she shakes her head at the memory of her marriage to Samuel. "Honestly, I can see that I had these high ideals of a 'perfect' marriage. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't want to admit that we had flaws in our marriage. We had been college sweethearts and others admired our union. I felt proud of that. I liked being a role model to others. I didn't want to admit that we might have needed professional help…help that could determine how we could fix our growing bitterness towards each other. Maybe that would have helped your dad admit his sexuality sooner. If I could go back in time, I would change that…maybe therapy would have helped our family heal better if we had sought that help."

Lacey says what she has been afraid to ask. "Do you hate dad?"

Judy looks away momentarily before she gazes again into Lacey's eyes. "Sweetheart, hate is such a hard word. It is uncompromising. It is a tough word to assign to someone. Not one person is totally bad nor totally good. No one is 100% hero nor 100% villain. So, let's just say I 'disliked some of your dad's ways'. However, I never hated him nor do I hate him today – although it took me a long while to realize that, I am ashamed to say."

Lacey wonders "Do you think you and dad could ever become friends?"

Judy grimaces a little. "Wow, 'friends'." She considers Lacey's question. "Sweetheart, I don't know about friendship but we are definitely not enemies. We could never be enemies. A few weeks after Clara's birthday party, we meet with your dad's therapist who worked with us to resolve the bitterness so that we could be civil and kind to one another. This was importance especially since we love you and Clara and we share custody in raising you girls."

"Do you regret marrying him?"

"No, I could never regret that. After all, you and your sister were the best gifts from that marriage to Samuel. So, after our therapy sessions, we chose to raise you girls with love – even if there was no romantic love still between us. We had to honor what our love made – two amazing, beautiful daughters." Judy pulled Lacey further into her arms as she nestled Lacey's head into her neck. "Does that answer all your questions, sweetheart?"

"Yes. Well, all except one…how do you determine what is best for you when your mind believes one thing and your heart feels the complete opposite?"

Judy asks a questions before she gives her answer. "Does this concern Danny or Jo?"

"Danny" is Lacey's soft reply.

"Ah, the boy whom the heart hasn't quite relinquished. Well, we all have some possible soulmates who either 'almost got away' or 'who got away and we wonder was it a mistake'."

Lacey expresses a little amazement. "Wasn't Dad your true soulmate?"

"Well, actually I would say that I had two soulmates. One was a handsome, intellectual man named Samuel Porter. Another was a dashing, equally handsome man named Jason Hopkins. Jason was the longtime high-school boyfriend. Your dad was the longtime college boyfriend. Jason and I parted when we decided to go to different colleges. We had tried a long-distance love our freshman year, but someone came between us. Well, I should say that Jason allowed a girl to come between us. I was hurt and furious with him. I immediately broke up with him and discontinued all contact. Your father came along my sophomore year and healed that broken heart."

"With years and distance, I was able to really assess my relationship with Jason. He was a soulmate but we weren't destined for a lifetime together. He was a starter boyfriend. I could appreciate what I learned from my relationship with him – what he taught me about love and about myself. I ran into him about a year after my divorce from your father. He asked me to lunch. I accepted and had a wonderful time. It was nice seeing him again. I felt those old butterflies in my stomach again but I did not act on those old feelings. There were reasons why we didn't work. I now had enough wisdom about what I wanted from my next relationship and what compromises I was willing to make. Space brought that clarity." Judy concludes.

Lacey nods her head. "Exactly! That's what I am trying now…space to allow me to make some better choices…. With Sarita and Phoebe, I have re-connected. With Archie, I have allowed friendship again. I had tried to keep Danny at a distance but Danny wouldn't let that happen. His repeated appeals softened my heart so I extended friendship to him, too. Both boys know that our friendship is only on the terms that they do not overstep the bounds of that friendship."

"And they both agreed? Well, maybe teenage boys are a little different these days than in your mother's time, but some boys view friendship as a key to get closer to the girl they want. I just want you to be aware." Judy warns Lacey.

"I'm aware and I am watchful to make sure they adhere to my friendship policy." Lacey affirms.

"And Jo?" Judy inquires.

"Remember when I distanced myself from her when I was younger….when Danny lost his appeal while in Juvie?" Judy nods. "Well, that is what I am doing now. I extended forgiveness to her but I made her exit my life. Space and clarity, like you said, Mom." Lacey explains.

"Okay. It is your life. I won't argue against your wishes, honey." Lacey was surprised and grateful at the response that Judy gave. Judy didn't pursue any disagreeing views regarding this particular friendship not receiving an extension. Lacey exhaled a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. She snuggled closer to her mother. Out of all the emotional conversations Lacey experienced recently, this was the most enlightening. This brought her closer to her mother, allowed her to express what questions she had regarding her parent's divorce, and reassured her that her family would be okay. The love remained, maybe defined in a different way, but that connection had become stronger.

_**Chapter 9 Preview…..**___

Later that night….

Lacey had gone to bed early. She was tired from today's events and her heart-to-heart with her mother. She was rustled from her sleep. She woke up disoriented. She didn't know why she had awakened. She nestled more into her pillow and pulled her comforter closer to her neck as she closed her eyes again. There was a light series of raps upon her window. She heard a loud whispered "Lacey!" It was Danny.

Lacey buried herself more into her bedding and pulled the comforter closer to her ear to smother the noise of Danny's knocks and whispers. She told herself she wasn't being a coward. She was preserving herself…letting herself face Danny on her own terms – when she was ready – not at a time that he determined. Although she hated ignoring him, she did not want to entertain him for an extended period tonight to discuss Jo. Finally after thirty minutes of Danny's knocking and whispers and Lacey's feigning sleep, there was silence. Danny must have gone home.

_**Thank you, Lovely Readers. Sorry for the long chapter, but the tv Twisted never explored Lacey's family and what results after a painful divorce. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please excuse any typos…it was very exhaustive to write…lol**_

_**DimplesValntina**_


	9. Chapter 9

_***This chapter will contain some Jo references pertinent to the story because Danny has learned Lacey has discontinued her friendship with Jo. Thank you for reading. DimplesValentina**_

**The Break Chapter 9**

It had been an hour after Lacey's conversation with her mother. Lacey had gone to bed early. She was tired from today's events and her heart-to-heart with her mother. She was rustled from her sleep. She woke up disoriented. She didn't know why she had awakened. She nestled more into her pillow and pulled her comforter closer to her neck as she closed her eyes again. There was a light series of raps upon her window. She heard a loud whispered "Lacey!" It was Danny.

Lacey buried herself more into her bedding and pulled the comforter closer to her ear to smother the noise of Danny's knocks and whispers. She told herself she wasn't being a coward. She was preserving herself…letting herself face Danny on her own terms – when she was ready – not at a time that he determined. Although she hated ignoring him, she did not want to entertain him for an extended period tonight to discuss Jo.

Finally after thirty minutes of Danny's knocking and whispers and Lacey's feigning sleep, there was silence. Danny must have gone home. Lacey would face his questions tomorrow…she was quite certain he would find some way to make a physical appearance in her day. She knew Danny would spend a restless night due to Lacey's not acknowledging his presence at her window. All of his thoughts would have festered and he would be at his most persistent whenever she faced him.

Lacey knows she needs steely resolve to counter him. He would decidedly have some obstinate views regarding Lacey's removal of Jo from her life. It did not matter. She has her own views which needed to be honored. It is self-preservation. It is the smart thing to do – her determination to eliminate the source of continued disappointment and pain. With that affirmation, Lacey's mind could settle. Finally, she could drift back to sleep since there wasn't any anxiety of Danny's intrusion for a conversation that Lacey didn't want to have.

The next morning, Sunday, Lacey decides to go into 'proactive' mode. She had ignored Danny yesterday. She wouldn't allow him the advantage of the conversation they needed to have. She would set the tone and setting for that talk. She sends a text.

_Sorry, I was busy yesterday and I had a personal thing with my mother. You wanted to talk. Let's meet at the Green Grove Arboretum…my treat. We can walk around and talk._

Lacey figures that a neutral but calming environment is the best place for this possibly tense conversation. Lacey receives an immediate response text from Danny.

_Okay. Let's meet there at 1PM._

Lacey dressed casually but cute in yellow skinnies and an off-white v-neck sweater with abstract green and yellow stripes on the v-collar and on the bottom band of the sweater. She wears white sneakers and keeps the rest of her look simple (bare face with just a little mascara and tinted lip balm, hair gathered into a loose updo with some hair around her face). She paired her look with diamond studs and a thin gold chain necklace. At the last minute, she decides to have one exception to her minimal look…she wears the beautiful, expensive bracelet Danny had tried to present to her on the night of their breakup.

She had refused that night since it was a gesture to buy her affections and keep her from voicing questions about his erratic behavior. Recently, when he had pleaded for forgiveness and for friendship, he had insisted that she accept the bracelet. It was really meant as a symbolic token of his romantic affection for her. Lacey accepted the gift at that time; still, this has been the first time she has worn it.

While driving to the location to meet Danny, Lacey's eye catches the flash from the bracelet as it refracts the colors of the sunlight. Perhaps she shouldn't have worn the bracelet. She had thought her wearing Danny's gift would signal to him that she was giving their friendship a genuine second chance. She isn't overly superstitious but she did wonder if the bracelet now held a bad mojo since it had been originally associated with that horrible night. Who knows…today's conversation with Danny might end in a similar painful way. Lacey shakes her head to try to clear her undesirable thoughts. However the conversation ended with Danny today, she would be fine…maybe a little battered emotionally but eventually, she would recover and be okay.

She arrives a few minutes before Danny. When he approaches the entrance of the Arboretum, Lacey's breath catches for a moment. He is dressed in medium blue unbuttoned Henley over a long sleeve darker blue waffle tee paired with slim cut dark jeans and dark brown combat boots. His hair is pulled back into a signature bun with some hair not captured within the hair tie. That is one of Lacey's favorite 'Danny hair styles' – with her fave being the times his hair is unbound and flowing about his shoulders.

The young adult novels would describe Danny as an attractive dark angel. Lacey could agree with some of that assessment but what he really possessed was the lethal combination of looks, intelligence, mystery, and vulnerability. That combination always muddled Lacey's emotions and conversely made it difficult for her eyes to focus anywhere else. Lacey was always enamored with him whenever she saw him – this was the one thing she constantly had to control during her interactions with him. The only consolation is that Danny always seems to have the same difficulty. His eyes would mirror his own conflict whenever Lacey was in his vicinity.

"Hi, Danny." Lacey gives a smile when he stands in front of her.

He smiles back. "Hi, Lacey. You look really good."

"Thank you." Lacey blushes a little at his compliment. "You look really good, too. Here is your ticket."

As Lacey extends her hand to give Danny his ticket, Danny grabs her hand and holds it. He notices that she is wearing his gift. He strokes the bracelet with a finger. He looks up with pride reflected on his face as he gives a closed-mouth smile before he states "It looks very beautiful on you."

Lacey smiles again. "Thank you. I love it." To break up the moment, Lacey says "Let's go inside. I hear they have some nice walking paths and some places where we can sit."

Danny smiles and nods his head as he gestures for Lacey to precede in front of him. While inside, they first just admire the plants and the tranquil atmosphere as they walk from section to section. The entry way had early spring petunias and tulips which led to the first exhibit of flora. Marigolds, lilies and other blooms are positioned in segmented dividers between the different interiors. There are different exits which allow the visitors to sit on benches outside where the various gardens showcase different perennials. Lacey suggests that they sit outside in the wildflower garden.

Lacey decides to start the conversation. She looks Danny directly in the eyes. "I am certain that the main reason for your texts and messages yesterday was concerning Jo's visit with me. I am sure you know that we had a long talk. She apologized, I forgave, and I decided to end my friendship with her."

Lacey held her hand up as Danny was about to interrupt her. "Please let me finish. My decision wasn't made in anger. I had long considered what I would say to Jo if we ever did meet face-to-face. I found that while I was still angry with her, I did not want to hate her. I wanted to just be free of the hurt, betrayal, and sadness associated with the remnants of a friendship that was no longer healthy. My forgiveness allowed both of us to continue life in a better position but without one another."

Lacey falls silent as she awaits Danny to convey his thoughts. "Look, Lacey. Both Jo and I made a huge mistake when we kept the secret of how my father died from you. We made an even larger mistake when we confused feelings of friendship and convenience for the possibility of a romantic relationship. I take responsibility for that confusion. I wasn't in the best mental place. I was filled with guilt and wanted anything 'easy' that didn't force me to own up to my actions. You were always my guide for steering me towards doing the right thing – whether I really wanted to listen or not. You were so gracious for allowing me a second chance at a friendship with you. Couldn't you allow Jo a second chance as well?"

Lacey shakes her head at what Danny is trying to request. "Did Jo tell you all that we discussed? My main point was that girlfriends should not go after another friend's ex. Girls should respect each other and help solve the issue – not take advantage of the situation to suit their own selfish needs. That was the difference between my decision regarding you and my decision regarding her. I considered what was the intention behind your actions and hers."

"I don't think Jo intentionally meant to hurt you, Lacey. Things got really messed up so fast." Danny expresses his frustration.

Lacey clarifies "You were filled with guilt since you now really had caused someone's death. You had been on an emotional rollercoaster since age 11. You were under so much stress. That was what caused your decision making to become skewed. Jo took advantage of your state of confusion. She finally realized that yesterday during our talk. Underneath it all, she was blurring the lines of friendship and romantic desires when she ingrained herself into the Vikram situation and into the Charlie situation."

Danny begins "Lacey…"

Lacey doesn't allow him to continue. "Jo's obstinate belief in Charlie's innocence and turning her back on you – until it was convenient for her – was a violation of friendship. Who abandons a longtime friend in need to believe the words of a new person? Who knows two friends have had a bad breakup yet feels right about starting a relationship with one of them? A true friend would have tried to make peace between everyone. Ultimately she betrayed our friendship trio – even 'innocently' as she claims. Her mind was more rational than yours at the time. Bottom line, one doesn't do actions that harms your friends. Harming your friends would be like hurting your own self. When a person doesn't realize that, then it is a problem. That person is only concerned about their own personal being…not a worthwhile trait in a 'best friend'…especially once we have known since childhood."

Danny nods his head quickly as stands up to walk a few feet from the bench. He looks off in the distance and then turns to look back at Lacey. He holds his palms up in a slight plea. "I know. Jo can be self-centered. Lace, she is trying to be a better person. She even apologized to me after her talk with you. I forgave her and offered my own apology back to her for my actions. It's just so frustrating that I can't fix everything that went wrong with our trio."

Lacey leaves the bench and stands right in front of him. "That's the problem, Danny. This can't be fixed by you and that is perfectly 'okay'. This issue can only be fixed by space apart from each other and by time. I forgave her and let her go. Who knows what years may bring but for the immediate future, I won't be having a friendship with her."

"Are you willing to just forget about your past with her? We used to be inseparable as kids. Yes, things have been tense since I returned but there were sparks of the old friendship here and there. You said once that all that matters was the friendship – no matter how mad you were at her and at me." Danny tries to remind her of the former closeness the three of them once had.

"That was all before I found out about the secret relationship that you two were considering to try." Lacey scoffs. She shakes her head and takes a deep breath to center her thoughts before she exhales. She begins again. "I can feel good about the decision to end my friendship with her because it was for the best. Our time together had run its course. It was best to discuss what went wrong and to end our association on a positive note instead of continued bitterness. Do I hate her? No. Do I wish bad things for her future? No, that's not my style. Will I miss her? I miss what 'could have been'…I saw glimpses of the old childhood Jo sporadically and that is what I will miss. Bottom line, I had to take care of myself, Danny. Like how you are trying to put the pieces of your life back together, so am I. Jo didn't fit into my life anymore."

"So, where does that leave me?" Danny looks as if he wonders if that assessment of Jo will also include him. He swallows as he gazes intensely at her. "Do I fit into your life any more?" His voice has a slight catch at the end of that sentence.

Lacey smiles albeit with a little melancholy. She stares directly into his eyes to convey the extent of her next words. "I would love for you to still be in my life. I look forward to rediscovering our friendship. However, I can't take that step forward with you if you are trying to reconnect me with Jo. You see, your socializing with Jo is in direct conflict with my socializing with you. You would be trying to share stories with me about her and you would be inviting the two of us to the same functions with you. I know you…sooner or later, you would get that urge to play friend-matchmaker."

"Lacey, that's a difficult position I am in if I have this 'separate but equal' friendship with the two of you – when the two of you no longer have your own friendship." Danny seems irritated that he can't influence Lacey to change her mind.

Lacey agrees with him. "Exactly. So, if you feel that you can't honor my wish for Jo to be out of my life, then I understand. If you can't honor my wish for us not to discuss her in our future interactions, I understand. Danny, our friendship wouldn't be able to withstand that strain. Don't worry…I won't have hard feelings against you – if you decide that this is too much for you. I just can't have a friend in my life that doesn't honor my wishes. Any friends, that I have, need to respect my needs. Respect is the new qualifier for any friendship with me." Lacey looks away from Danny's face. His face has a mixture of disappointment, defeat, and a little fear.

Danny steps even closer as he rubs his hands down Lacey's arms to eventually grip her hands. "Look, Lace. I want to be your friend….more than anything. Please believe that."

"Good…but I want you to take a bit and really think about what I said. You need to evaluate everything and decide for yourself if you can honor what I expect of our friendship. We can talk later this week." Lacey really wants Danny to realize that having both girls in his life, but separate from each other, was really a big obstacle for him. Danny would ultimately have to choose which one was more important. Lacey didn't want to influence him. She wanted him to choose what was best for him.

Danny sighs deeply. "Okay, I will think about what you said. You, too, have to think about what I have been saying the past two weeks. I want to be back in your life, Lacey. That's why I wanted our friendship again. If that turns into more, I would be thrilled with that, too. I know you are only promising friendship. I just need you, Lacey. I can't picture a future without you having some capacity in it." Danny's eyes reflect the truth behind his passionate response.

Lacey nods her head. She doesn't trust herself to address what he has just declared. Instead, she diverts their conversation back to the Arboretum. "Let's get out of here and continue through the rest of this place. I'm a little thirsty. I heard they have a stand somewhere inside that makes the best natural smoothies." Lacey grabs Danny's hand to lead him back inside. They hold hands for the rest of their tour. Sure, they both know the extended gesture belies the normal 'friends' behavior, but neither wants to release the other's grasp.

"Thank you for today. Regardless the intense discussion we had, I enjoyed spending time with you. It's been a while since we have spent time together doing something that the rest of the world calls 'fun'. We haven't had a lot of that lately. It was nice." Danny states as they exited the Arboretum an hour later.

"I enjoyed today with you, too. Yeah, we have had some good times together. It's been nice to recapture a little of that." Lacey didn't like the necessary conversation they had earlier but her mood had been uplifted by viewing the different gardens with Danny. He made her laugh with his silly commentary about the flowers and fellow visitors. It reminded her of times when they were younger and he always found the humor in the slightest things. It made Lacey feel good that this side of Danny remained after all the turmoil he had experienced in his short life.

"Oh, Lace, have you read my journal yet?" Danny wonders. This is his second time asking Lacey this particular question.

Lacey blushes. "No, I'm sorry. I have just had a lot going on these past several days. I thank you for lending it to me and I promise I will read it this week. I'm sorry that I have not had the time to review it. It means a lot to me that you entrusted me with it." Lacey wanted to convince Danny that she does desire to read the material within the journal, but lately 'mending bridges' with people have taken priority over that.

Danny places his hand underneath Lacey's chin and bends down slightly to look closely at her…just an inch from her face. Lacey has an audible gasp of breath. "It's okay, but I'm holding you to that promise that you will read it this week. In fact, be prepared for a test quiz on its contents." He smirks as he releases her chin but quickly places a peck on her forehead before he takes a step back from her.

Lacey doesn't chastise Danny for kissing her forehead. He didn't take advantage of the situation so she will treat it as Danny's way of friendship with her. Yes, it was unorthodox but she and Danny had been a very different type of couple anyway. Conversely, their friendship had more intimate overtones due to their complex history. "I promise, I will read it." Lacey assures him. She wonders what the journal contains since he is so adamant that she read it.

Danny walks Lacey to her car. As she gets inside, Lacey gently reminds him of his own personal assignment. "Remember you are to think about what I said."

"Yes, ma'am." Danny gives a smirk and a nod. " 'Bye, Lace."

" 'Bye, Danny." Lacey responds as Danny turns to walk away.

As Lacey drives home, she feels good about the place where she has left her friendship with Danny. If he decides that he can't honor the separation between her and Jo, then at least she has a pleasant 'last' memory of her time with Danny. Her eyes mist a little over those words 'pleasant last memory'. She smiles a little…if today was indeed her final moment with a happy Danny, then she would treasure that memory for the rest of her life.

_**Chapter 10 Preview **_

"Are we speaking to Danny or are we still mad at him?" Clara surprises Lacey later in the evening with that question while they were on the sofa and watching a television program.

Although Lacey was extending friendship again to Danny, she doesn't know if she should re-initiate him into her family life just yet. He was still considering if Lacey's decision to cut Jo from her life was a deal-breaker concerning his own friendship with Lacey. Earlier this afternoon, she had met with him. He had not been pleased that she would not be maneuvered by his charm to change her mind. So, if he was unwilling to accept her terms, then Lacey was unsure if any semblance of friendship would even be viable.

_***Lovely Readers, thank you for your continued reading and support. The next chapter will have a Clara heart-to-heart. As most Dacey fans have suggested on various blogs, I agree that Amandla Stenberg would make the perfect Clara. So, envision her as Clara when you read Chapter 10, which will be posted along with Chapter 9. I know…two chapters at once…surprise, surprise, surprise…lol **_

_**To the readers of my other fics, I will post two chapters also for 'After The Burn' this weekend. DimplesValntina **_


	10. Chapter 10

_***There will be some Jo references in this chapter because Clara has some confusion regarding which of Lacey's friends are 'okay' and which ones they are 'ignoring'…it's the whole 'if my sister is mad at them, then I should be mad at them, too' mentality. Also, Danny makes a decision (one Dacey fans will love). DimplesValntina**_

**The Break Chapter 10 **

"Are we speaking to Danny or are we still mad at him?" Clara surprises Lacey later in the evening with that question while they were on the sofa and watching a television program. Judy, their mother, has gone on errands and has not arrived home yet. She has promised the girls that they will dine at Keys' Café this evening.

"What…why do you ask that?" Lacey wants to know where Clara's question is heading.

"Well, a couple of weeks ago, you told me that if you received any visits from Jo or Danny, then I should say you weren't home. If I did that, you would give me 5 bucks each time."

"And you have gotten quite a bit of money from being my personal bouncer." Lacey replies. "But…why did you ask that question?" Weeks ago, she had hated using her little sister to divert Danny from being able to see her, but she hadn't been in the greatest emotional state to see Danny 'in the flesh'. However, she hadn't counted that Danny would try several times to see her and those front door visits would cost her a pretty penny.

"Well, I saw him in town this week before my gym practice…you know, when Mom had to stop at the Post Office. Danny said that he hoped I would allow him inside our home since you and he were friends again. He said that I was a good protector, but I wouldn't have to 'guard the front door' anymore."

Although Lacey was extending friendship again to Danny, she doesn't know if she should re-initiate him into her family life just yet. He was still considering if Lacey's decision to cut Jo from her life was a deal-breaker concerning his own friendship with Lacey. Earlier this afternoon, she had met with him. He had not been pleased that she would not be maneuvered by his charm to change her mind. So, if he was unwilling to accept her terms, then Lacey was unsure if any semblance of friendship would even be viable.

She needed loyalty. If she felt that a friend did not honor her wishes, then there was no need for that person in her life. She was filled with sudden unease if she had to face a future without Danny. She would survive but it would hurt.

Another reason for her uncertainty regarding Danny and her family was that her mother was still somewhat irritated that she was clueless about so many life events which had happened to Lacey – with Danny being the catalyst. However, Lacey's talk with Judy had revealed that Lacey was still tied emotionally to Danny – not just with this attempt at friendship again but also the discovery that Danny had been a possible soulmate. During that bonding moment, her mother had depicted her own deep emotional connection with Lacey's dad and with another boy.

Surely, her mother would reserve judgment and be willing to extend a chance to become acquainted with Danny again. Then, both Judy and Clara could view Danny the way that Lacey did: a caring, worthwhile person with a great personality….a boy who was trying to build his life anew. Lacey's heart ached for Green Grove residents to eliminate their prejudices and open their hearts to the current 16 year old Danny – not the 11 year old 'child murderer'. Of course, since the rumor mill had spread the news of Danny's inherited millions, many Green Grove residents pretended to like Danny but he was not fooled by their disingenuous manners.

Lacey knew she could establish a better rapport between her family and Danny – maybe an outing or a gathering at home with her family, Danny, and Karen. Yes, that could be a good plan – well, a good plan dependent upon she and Danny actually continuing this trial friendship. At any rate, she was convinced that the first people who could show genuine goodwill towards Danny should be her mother and sister – although Lacey knew her out-of-state father would be the most difficult to persuade. She would cross that bridge later when she and Clara were visiting him soon. Meanwhile, Lacey decides that her little sister doesn't need to help fight her battles with Danny and Jo.

Lacey assures Clara: "You don't have to guard the front door anymore…and Danny was right, you were a good protector…an expensive one…" Lacey ruffles Clara's hair. "but you were an excellent protector and I thank you."

Clara's next statement shocks Lacey. "I know he comes to your room sometimes and I have seen you sneak out of the house to see him."

Lacey gently chastises her. "Clara! What are you doing spying on me?"

Clara has no shame. "I came down the stairs one night to sneak one of those Bebe's Cupcakes that mom bought. It was the last salted caramel one, which we both love. So, I wanted to make sure I got that cupcake before you did. I heard some voices when I went by your room and decided to put my ear against the door."

Lacey didn't know if she wants an answer but she asks the feared question anyway. "What did you hear?"

Clara shrugs. "Something about a drain pipe out of your window...then you said something about Romeo and Juliet and Danny said something about it not ending well. I could only hear some words through the door. Then, I decided that getting and eating my cupcake in my room - before anyone saw me - was much more important than listening to you and Danny talk about dumb Romeo and Juliet. I've seen the movie anyway."

Lacey doesn't want to clarify to Clara that Romeo and Juliet was more than just a 'movie'. However, she figures Clara would have to read the Shakespearean tragedy (and have to memorize soliloquies from it) sometime in the near future before Junior High so she didn't correct Clara's assumption. She would find out eventually.

Clara continues "Then, I saw him one time talking to you on our front steps and you were asking him about being with you and talking about tadpoles. The last time I heard him talking to you was at the curb. I saw him kissing you. He had long hair like a girl." She giggles.

Lacey realizes that she has not been as careful with Danny's night visits as she had thought. That last time Clara saw Danny was Homecoming Night when Danny had texted her to meet him outside. He had arrived in a gold Porsche and had the sweetest kisses to show his remorse for the disastrous evening. Lacey begins carefully: "Clara…"

Clara defends her eavesdropping. "What, my room is above that door on the second floor. It was getting late. I heard a car sound funny…a loud "vroom" sound. I peeked outside when I heard voices from near our yard. That's when I saw him kiss you when you were trying to talk. I remember thinking his hair was almost as long as yours." She giggles bigger this time while she displays the signature Porter dimples.

Lacey is hesitant, but needs to know. "Have you said anything to Mom about what you've seen?"

Clara shakes her head. "No…because Danny made your eyes smile."

Lacey is perplexed. Clara explains when she sees Lacey's expression: "Your eyes looked so sad sometimes, but I noticed that after every time he came by, I saw your eyes were 'happy eyes' again that next day….I just wanted you happy."

Lacey is touched. She never knew she was transparent to her little sister. She tried to hide any angst she felt about their parents to Clara, but she wasn't aware that her feelings (about other events in her life) were on full display. Lacey playfully tugs Clara on her cheek while she states: "You are the best sister in the whole world."

"I know" Clara answered all matter-of-fact.

Lacey smirks while she adds "I love you."

Clara smirks back. "I know that too." Lacey reaches over to tickle Clara. Clara dodges and laughs… "I love you, too."

Before Lacey can turn her attention back to the program, Clara asks "So, we are speaking to Danny. What about Jo?"

Lacey takes a breath first and expends it. She looks up as she tries to think of the best way to phrase the Jo situation. "As far as Jo, we have decided to end our friendship and go our separate ways. If you see her in town, of course, speak to her as you would anyone that you know. That's what I plan on doing. It's just that I won't spend time with her anymore."

"Why not?" Clara frowned. She had been very young when Jo stopped coming by the Porter home for sleepovers or visits. She didn't understand why… many years ago, Lacey had stated (at that time) that she and Jo had stopped being friends. Lacey soon had other friends, like Regina and Sarita, instead. After Regina died, Lacey brought a new girl, Phoebe, by their home. When Clara had seen Jo at Lacey's sleepover and at Clara's own birthday party, then she thought the girls were friends again. Her mother had even remarked how nice it was to have Jo back in Lacey's life. So, she was very confused why the girls were not friends still.

"That's a really, really, realllly big question you're asking, Peanut." Lacey smirks and tickles her Clara's side as Lacey tries to elevate the moment with a little levity. Clara giggles. This attempt for lightheartedness really is for Lacey herself as she prepares her words carefully that her young sister could understand.

"You remember when Mom and Dad first divorced? You would come into my room at night and crawl into my bed at night because you said you were too sad to sleep. I would wrap my arms around you and sometimes you would cry yourself to sleep – within my arms. Then, one day you didn't come into my room at night. I asked you the next day what had happened. You said you decided you wouldn't be sad anymore because it hurt to be sad all the time. Remember?"

Clara nodded. "Yes, I remember that."

"Well, my friendship with Jo started making me sad. Not only did it make me extremely sad, I was angry as well. It hurt me to be sad and angry at her. Friends shouldn't make you feel that way. So, instead of taking that sadness and anger out on her, I wanted to be a better person. I didn't want to hurt anymore. I also decided that she shouldn't hurt either. You see, ending our friendship was a good thing. We each could walk away and start feeling better. You understand?"

Clara furrowed her brows as she thought about what her Lacey had just explained. She nodded. "Yeah, I think I understand."

"Remember, Clara, if you are being the very best friend that you can be to someone, make sure that friend is being the very best right back to you. If a friend makes you sad or angry or doesn't treat you right, tell them how you feel and see if you can work things out first. However, pay attention to their actions – not their words. If that friend continues to treat you badly, then it is okay to stop being friends with that person. We are 'friends' with people who are good to us and good for us. Remember that, okay?" Lacey lectures her sister. She wants to provide the best example that she can for Clara. If Lacey can save Clara any future heartache, she wants to impart any wisdom she has learned, which has been a lot this past year.

"Okay, I'll remember." Clara promises. Clara reaches over and wraps her arms around Lacey to give a hug and rub her back.

Lacey wonders aloud "What's this?"

"Just in case you were a little sad…" Clara replies.

Lacey is a little choked up. She smiles and speaks her gratitude at her sister's kind gesture. "Thanks, Peanut. I could use a hug."

After Lacey and her family had returned from eating out, she had showered and prepared for bed. As she prepares to lie down, she turns on her cell phone to check for any messages. Of course, she knows that her eyes are scanning for a possible text from Danny. She has messages from Sarita and Phoebe inviting her to a movie. She has one from her dad confirming when Clara and Lacey could expect his visit for their upcoming road trip together. There is a message from Archie inviting her to dinner. Lastly, there is a text from Danny.

_Can you meet me tonight?_

It was 10PM. Clara would be asleep – unless she awoke to eavesdrop. Judy was a very sound sleeper so Lacey would not have to worry about upsetting her mother for meeting Danny at this late hour with school the next day.

Lacey texts Danny back.

_Where do you want to meet?_

A minute later…

_Meet me on your curb. I will text you when I am nearby._

Lacey sends her confirmation back. She quickly tosses on a tee, hoodie, jeans, and sneakers. She puts her hair into a ponytail. A few minutes later, she receives a text from Danny notifying her that he is near her home. She tiptoes out of her room, down the stairs, unsets the alarm, and quietly closes the front door. As soon as Lacey begins to walk towards the curb, she sees Danny's Porsche arrive near the curb. She hopes Clara is asleep since she told Lacey that she heard the sound of Danny's car the last time he drove here.

"Hey, Lacey" is Danny's greeting after he exits his vehicle and is now standing in front of Lacey. He still has on the same clothes from this afternoon's visit to the Arboretum.

"Hey, Danny. You wanted to meet?" Lacey feels a little anxious that Danny wants to talk so late…especially after their talk this afternoon. They both have school tomorrow. Couldn't this wait until the next day? Is there a reason why this discussion is so important that they need to clarify something – something before they encounter others at school?

"I've made a decision." Danny looks very serious.

"Okay, but are you sure? You could take a little longer to evaluate things. I don't want to feel like I rushed you into a decision." Lacey feels her stomach clench with nervous energy. She had not considered he would make up his mind this soon. She braces herself to prepare for whatever his choice is.

"Once you told me that 'we' were worth the risk. I wanted that but I did not act worthy of that risk. The decisions I made belittled the sacrifice you made towards that risk." Danny pauses for a moment as he puts a hand on her shoulder as he leans closer towards her. "Now, it is my turn." He moves that hand towards her hand as he also takes her other hand in his free one. He places his face close to hers. "This time, I will make the sacrifice. You are worth the risk."

"Danny…what does this mean?" Lacey can hardly believe it. She had wanted him to choose their friendship but what does he mean by sacrifice?

"I told Jo that I also need to end my friendship with her. I thanked her for all she had done for me, but I couldn't be a friend to her – if it meant destroying what I was trying to start again with you. I told her that I wanted to be with you so much in whatever capacity you would let me...'friendship' or whatever else. I explained that I wished the best for her but I couldn't ignore how I felt…how I longed to be back in your life…how it would hurt me to be separated forever from you. You…you are the one I couldn't afford to lose. You are the one worth the risk. I would sacrifice anything for you." Danny's eyes mists as he makes his declaration. He has that sweet Danny closed-mouth smile…that smile is the perfect punctuation to the end of that speech.

Lacey is touched. She laughs a single time which ends on a little sob as she gets emotional. One reason is that she was glad that Danny finally made a definitive choice between her friendship versus Jo's. Sure, Lacey knew Danny desired her physically and one time romantically but there had never been any clarity regarding which girl's friendship he most treasured. It had always been the 'trio'.

The second reason for her emotion is that Lacey realizes that this friendship with Danny is proceeding very fast past 'friendship' parameters into a gray area somewhere between friendship and relationship. Their wish may be to connect again through friendship but their actions and their words (like Danny's tonight) conveyed things that were far more intimate.

Danny tugs her hands towards him and steps forward to hug her. He softly says "Hey…don't cry."

"It's okay. They're happy tears." Lacey whispers as Danny holds her while stroking her back. They stand like that for a long while…holding each other tightly, eyes closed, content to be in each other's arms. Normal friends wouldn't hold each other in such close proximity for a prolonged time. Both didn't care for 'normalcy' tonight.

Back inside the Porter household, a certain nosy 'Peanut' was surreptitiously viewing the couple from a corner of her bedroom window where she was shielded mostly by the curtains there. Clara smiled.

Actually, there was another captive audience to Lacey and Danny's embrace on the curb. Judy had actually been awake, using her laptop, when she heard a car stop outside their home. That is when she saw Lacey meeting Danny outside near the curb. At first Judy thought she would go outside and confront the teens about the lateness of the hour for a visit to her home. However, there was something about Danny's demeanor that stopped her. It appeared that he was being suppliant or showing remorse about something. When he hugged Lacey and they stayed that way for a long time, Judy figured he and Lacey must have made some sort of weighty decision.

Judy returns to her bed, but she makes a mental note to remind Lacey that if Danny wants to visit, he must do so properly – in her family's presence – like all her other friends do. Judy shakes her head and gives a slight laugh as she thought "Yeah, friends…right. I am going to have my hands full with that little friendship…I can tell already."

_***Lovely Readers, thank you for your continued reading and for your encouragement. I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoyed both Chapters 9 and 10. **_

_**I will be posting 2 chapters for 'After The Burn' this weekend. I will try to write an update for 'The Beautiful Ones' by the end of next week. I have written bits of future chapters but that was just for song placement (have to use 60+ songs…lol). At any rate, I will focus again on where I left Lacey and company. Thank you for your continued patience as I juggle a couple of Dacey fics.**_

_**DimplesValntina**_


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